REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 135 



139. Pogonias cromis (Linnaeus). Drum. 



Geog. Dist.: Abundant on South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, rare north to 

 Provincetown. In Massachusetts, recorded from Provincetown (Goode 

 and Bean, 1879), Mystic River (B. S. N. H.), Woods Hole (Smith, 

 1898), from Connecticut, at Stratford (Linsley, 1844), specimens taken 

 in Fisher's Island Sound July 10, 1874 (Goode, 1880). Occasional on 

 Long Island shore(Bean, 1903). 



Habitat: Sluggish swimmers, living on the bottom. 



Season in R. I.: Very rare. Reported from Narragansett Bay by R. I. 

 Fish Com., 1899. 



Food: Bottom-dwelling invertebrates. This fish is especially de- 

 structive of oysters. 



Size: In Great Egg Harbor Bay, N. J., the young were found by Prof. 

 Baird in August. Average of adults, twenty pounds; maximum, 

 eighty pounds. 



POMACENTRID^. The Demoiselles. 



140. Abudefduf saxatilis (Linnaeus). Pintano; Coiv-pilot. 



Geog. Dist.: Tropical America, on both coasts, north to Florida. Abun- 

 dant in West Indies. 



Season in R. I.: Gill, in 1870, mentioiied a specimen of this species from 

 Rhode Island (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1870, 120). 



Food: Free-swimming crustacea. 



Size: Six inches. 



LABRID^. The Wrasse-Fishes. 



141. TautOgolabrus adspersus (Walbaum). Cunner; Chogset. 



Geog. Dist.: Labrador to Sandy Hook. Abundant along the whole New 

 England coast. 



Habitat: Very similar to that of the tautog, but cunners have a greater 

 tendency to live in quiet inshore waters. The very young are found 

 in eel-grass and 'sea-weed with young tautog. Half-grown cunners, 

 three to six inches, are always very common in shoal water along the 

 shores and especially around rocks and wharves. Larger specimens 

 eight inches in length and upwards, are often taken in traps in Narra- 

 gansett Bay and offshore waters. 



Season in R. I. : Extremely abundant the year around ; hibernates in the 

 mud during the winter. Many are often killed by the cold in extreme 

 winters 



