THE FOOD AND GAME FISHES OF NEW YORK. 



431 



126. Croaker {Micropogon uiidulaius Linnncus). 



Bodianus costaius Mitchill, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. N. Y., 1, 417, 1815, New York. 

 Micropogoii costatiis DeKay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 83, pi. 72, iig. 230, 1842. 

 Micropogon umiulatiis DeKay, N. V. Fauna, Fishes, 84, 1842, extra-liniital. 

 Alicropogon iiihhilatiis Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus., 575, 1883. 

 Micropogoii iiiidiilatus Bean, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., IX, 368, 1897. 

 Micropogon uiidulatus']o^x>k.^ & Evermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., 1461, i8g8, pi. 

 CCXXIV, fig. 570, 1900. 



Color grayish silvery, with bright reflections ; sides and back with narrow, irregu- 

 lar, undulating lines of dots; dorsal fins with three lines of dots along base. 



The Croaker inhabits the east coast of the United States, ranging from Cape 

 Cod to Texas ; it is not very common north of the Chesapeake. It grows to the 





CROAKER. 



length of 15 inches and is an important food fish. The fish was described by 

 Mitchill but was unknown to DeKay from personal observation. Although known 

 in Gravesend Hay, the species is a very uncommon one there. Mr. W. I. DeNyse 

 informs mc that several individuals were taken there in September, 1902. The only 

 specimen recorded at Woods Hole, Mass., is 15 inches long: it was taken in a trap 

 at the breakwater in Buzzards Bay on September 9, 1893. 



