REVIEW OF LOCAL FISHES 



67 



with broad bold vertical bands of black. This species grows rather 

 commonly to weigh six pounds, and occasionally weighs twenty. In 

 the Sailor's Choice, the sides are striped lengthwise with silvery blue 

 and pale gilt. There is a black spot on the shoulder and several more or 

 less distinct dark vertical bands not as bold as those of the Sheepshead. 

 In the Porgy the color is brownish, somewhat silvery below, with bright 

 reflections everywhere and with no distinct markings, though there are 

 sometimes vague dark cross shades. The Porgy is one of our most 

 abundant small marine fishes, rather deep bodied and compressed, the 

 spiny and soft rayed back fins continuous, the tail fin lunate and the 



PORGY 



pectoral fin long and pointed. It is taken in inshore waters from April 

 to November. The Sheepshead is of regular occurrence here though not 

 abundant, and the Sailor's Choice, a small fish which might readily be 

 mistaken for the Porgy, is only an occasional visitor from the south 

 though at times caught in fair numbers. 



The Weakfish, Drums or Croakers are a family characteristically 

 found on sandy shores in moderate latitudes. They have no incisor or 

 molar teeth in the mouth and the opercle or gill-cover usually ends in 

 two flat spines as in the bass. The anal fin is preceded by one or two 

 spines, never more than two, wherein they differ from the other families 



