I30 . AMERICAN FISHES. 



the St. John's, which they ascend as far as Jacksonville, Giinther is by 

 no means justified in his statement that this is "a fresh-water fish inhabit- 

 ing the rivers of North America." 



Like the other bottom-feeding members of this family, their food con- 

 sists chiefly of the smaller mollusks and crustaceans. Little is known 

 about their breeding habits in the North. Mr. S. C. Clarke states that at 

 New Smyrna, Fla. , they breed in the bays and inlets in November and 

 December, while Stearns remarks that they spawn in the lower bays and 

 inlets about Pensacola late in the fall, while the young of all sizes are very 

 abundant in the spring. 



Concerning this species Prof. Baird writes : 



" Of the smaller pan-fish of our coast, in excellence of flavor none is 

 considered superior to that known as the ' Lafayette.' Its precise eastern 

 range is not well ascertained, although it is occasionally taken in great 

 numbers off Long Island and the coast of New Jersey. It is most plenti- 

 ful off the coast of A^irginia. 



"According to Dr. Holbrook, it is not much esteemed for food at 

 Charleston, owing to a want of flavor. In the case of this species, as in 

 many others, it is probable that the colder waters of the North impart a 

 superior flavor and excellence to the flesh. This is well known to be the 

 case with the sheepshead, as well as many other species. 



"At Beesley's Point, N. J., where I have had an opportunity of 

 studying its habits, it makes its ajjpearance in large numbers in August, 

 the first school being composed of small fish, large ones following them. 

 A short time later they ascend the creeks in great numbers and are taken 

 there in company with the white perch. Their usual size in New Jersey 

 is about six inches, although occasionally measuring ten inches. They do 

 not make their appearance in the New York markets in any abundance 

 until towards the ist of September, and remain until the end of October, 

 when they disappear. I did not succeed in finding any very young fish, 

 and am unable to state whether they actually spawn on the New Jersey 

 coast, or whether the supply found there and further north consists of a 

 ' run ' from the more southern waters of fish migrating northward, ])erhaps 

 to escape the increased heat of the southern coast." 



Mr. L. O. Van Doren in the American Afig/cr, gives an account of its 

 merits as a game and food fish. 



" It swarms on the eastern coast during the hot months of July and August, 

 and is caught even in Se])tembcr. 



