NATURAL HISTORY OF REDFISH, ETC., OP TEXAS 157 



fish, which are served in the form of steaks. By preventing the sale of fish of over 

 32 inches, virtually all of the mature or spawning redfish are protected. This would 

 seem most desirable from the standpoint of fishery conservation when it is realized 

 that the bulk of the catch is composed of fish in their second and third year, and 

 that the marketability of the species is reduced greatly after the third or fourth years. 

 The total catch of redfish in Texas undoubtedly could be increased if many of the 

 closed waters were to be opened to net fishing. This applies particularly to a long 

 stretch of Gulf beach along Padre Island, which is an exceedingly fine feeding ground 

 for many of the larger redfish. No way to determine the capacity of any fishery is 

 recognized, except by actual trial by the most efficient commercial methods, and the 

 gradual reduction of the commercial coastal fisheries to a hook-and-line method of 

 fishing will hardly allow such a capacity to be ascertained. 



SUMMARY 



1. The redfish spawning season occurs mainly in October, and in the Gulf of 

 Mexico actual spawning takes place close to or at the mouths of the various passes. 



2. The newly hatched redfish are carried by the tidal currents into the bays and 

 lagoons, where they remain for an indefinite period. 



3. The redfish attains a modal total length of about 13.4 inches (34 centimeters) 

 by the end of the first year, 21.3 inches (54 centimeters) by the end of the second, 

 25.3 inches (64 centimeters) by the end of the third, probably about 29.5 inches 

 (75 centimeters) by the end of the fourth, and 33 inches (84 centimeters) by the end 

 of the fifth year. The species reaches suitable market size soon after the first year. 



4. Maturity is reached not before the end of the fourth or fifth year, probably 

 the fifth, with few fish under 30 inches (75 centimeters) in a sexually mature con- 

 dition. 



5. The food of redfish from 2.4 to 23.6 inches (6 to 60 centimeters) in length 

 consists principally of shrimps (Peneus), crabs, and small fish. 



NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BLACK DRUM, POGONIAS CROMIS 



(LINNvEUS) 



Black Drum 



Labrus cromis LinQfeus, Syst. Nat., ed. XII. 1766, p. 479; Carolina. 



Pogonias cromis Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 1482, PI, CCXXV, fig. 573; Welsh and Breder, 1923, p. 186; Hildebrand and 

 Schroeder, 1928, p. 287. 



DESCRIPTION OF ADULT 



The adult black drum has an oblong, compressed body, with the back much 

 elevated. The head is moderately short, with the snout blunt. The lower jaw 

 possesses numerous large barbels along the inner edge of each side, with the series 

 usually reaching back to below middle of eye. The color in life is generally silvery 

 black, with often a brassy luster, and all fins are black or dusky. Variations in color 

 are frequent among drum taken along the Texas coast, depending largely on the 

 particular environment from which the fish is taken. Drum from the Gulf of Mexico 

 are usually uniformly silvery, with the black lateral bars, characteristic of the young 

 fish, becoming indistinct; while adult drum taken in the shallow bays are black or 

 even bronze. (See fig. 19.) 



