280 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



much stouter. The jaw teeth are small and pointed, but the large, flat, pavement- 

 like pharyngeal teeth with which the drum crushes its shellfish food help to separate it 

 from its allies, the squeteague and kingfish. The first dorsal fin (10 spines) is 

 triangular; the second (1 short spine and 21 rays) oblong; the caudal is square with 

 moderately high caudal peduncle; the anal (2 spines — the first very short and the 

 second very long and stout — and 5 or 6 rays) is less than half as long as the soft 

 portion of the dorsal; and the pectorals are sharp pointed and relatively longer 

 than those of the weakfish. The second anal spine is much stouter in young drums 

 than in old ones. The eyes of the drum are comparatively small and its scales 

 are large. 



Color. — Described as grayish silvery. Young fish have 4 or 5 broad dark 

 vertical bars that fade out with age. The fins are blackish. This drum occurs in 

 two color phases — a grayish and a reddish. 



Size. — Drums grow to a huge size. The largest we find positively recorded 

 (caught in Florida) weighed 146 pounds, but adults average only about 20 pounds 

 in weight. 



General range. — Atlantic and Gulf coasts of America from Argentina to New 

 England, common from New York southward and abundant from the Carolinas 

 to the Rio Grande; casual as far north as Massachusetts Bay. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — Two or three specimens of this southern fish 

 have been taken at Provincetown, and one in the Mystic River, which empties 

 into Boston Harbor. It is only a stray from the south in the Gulf of Maine. 



THE CUNNERS. FAMILY LABRIDjE 



In the cunner family there is a single long dorsal fin, its forward part spiny, 

 its rear part soft rayed, with no evident demarkation between the two. The 

 ventral fins are thoracic in position, situated under the pectorals, and the caudal 

 peduncle is very broad. The structure of the dorsal fin is sufficient of itself to dis- 

 tinguish the cunners from all Gulf of Maine fishes except the scup, sea bass, rosefish, 

 and tilefish. There is no danger of confusing a cunner or tautog with any of these, 

 for their caudal peduncles, rounded tails and pectorals, and general form separate 

 them at a glance from the fiat-bodied, fork-tailed scup; their small mouths and the 

 relative sizes of the fins are obvious distinctions between cunners and sea 

 bass; their smooth cheeks and broad caudal fins separate them from the spiny- 

 headed, narrow-tailed rosefish; and they do not in the least resemble the tilefish 

 with its broad mouth, adipose "fin" on the nape, concave tail, and pointed pectorals. 



KEY TO GULF OF MAINE CUNNERS 



1. Gill covers scaly, snout somewhat pointed, dorsal profile of head rather flat. .Cunner, p. 281 

 Gill covers largely naked, snout blunt, dorsal profile of head high-arched ..Tautog, p. 286 



