Jordan and Evcrmann. — Fishes of North America. 1407 



marking the line of division; snout and tip of lower jaw blackish; mouth 

 white within; lower fins white, upper dusky. South Atlantic and (iulf 

 coasts of United States; rather rare at Charleston; a very well marked 

 species, differius'' in numerous respects from the others, ri'galis, thalasahiKs, 

 nebulosus, found in the same waters. The specimens here described are 

 from Charleston. {voSo^, bastard.) 



OtolUlms nothus, Holbrook, IchtU. iS. Carolina, 134, pi. 19, fig. 1, 1860, South Carolina; 



GuNTHEB, Cat., n, 308, 1860. 

 Vynoseion nothus, GooDE & Bean, Proc. U. S. Nat. Miis. 1879, 131 ; Jordan & Gilbert, 



Synopsis, 580, 1883. 

 Cestieus nothHS, Jordan & Eigenmann, I. c, 366, 1889. 



1780. CTIVOSCIOX REOALIS (Bloch & Schneider). 



(COM.MON WEAKFISH; SyUETEAGUE ; " SEA TROUT.") 



Head 3^; depth i^; eye about 1^ in snout, 5 to 7 in head; snout 4 to 4^. 

 D. X-I, 26 to 29; A. II, 11 to 13; scales 6-56-11. Maxillary reaching to 

 beyond pupil, 2^ in head; teeth sharp, in narrow bands; canines large. 

 Pectorals short, scarcely reaching tips of ventrals, a little more than I 

 length of head ; longest dorsal spine as long as maxillary, not i length 

 of head; soft dorsal and anal scaly, the scales caducous. Gill rakers long 

 and sharp, 5 + 11 in number. Color silvery, darker above and marked 

 with many small, irregular dark blotches, some of which form undulating 

 lines running downward and forward; back and head with bright reflec- 

 tions; dorsal and caudal fins dusky; ventrals, anal, and lower edge of 

 caudal yellowish, sometimes speckled. Atlantic and Gulf coast of the 

 United States from Cape Cod southward to Mobile; very abundant on 

 sandy shores, not found about rocks. It is highly valued as a food-fish, 

 the flesh being rich and delicate. Its flesh, like that of most species 

 of the genus, is very tender and easily torn, hence the common name 

 Weakfish. On the Carolina coast it has received the very inappropriate 

 name "Sea Trout." The bluefish (Pomatomm) is especially destructive 

 to individuals of this species, the two inhabiting the same waters and 

 often taken together, {regalis, royal ; suggested bj^ the name '•'Kingfish," 

 which belongs, however, to Men ticirrhiis. ) 



Johinus regalis, Bloch & Schneider, Syst. Ichth., 75, 1801, New York. 



Roccus comes, Mitchill, Report, in part. Pishes New York, 26, 1814, New York. 



Labrus squeteague, Mitchill, Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. New York 1815, 396, pi. 2, fig. 1, 



New York. 

 Otolithxis regalis, CuviER & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., v, 67, 1830. 

 Cynoscion regale, Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1862,18; Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 



581, 1883. 

 Cestreus regalis, Jordan & Eigenmann, I. c, 366, pi. 1, 1889. 



17S1. CYNOSCION THALASSINUS (Holbrook). 

 The form called OtoJithus thalassinus by Holbrook has not been recog- 

 nized by later collectors, and it has usually been considered identical 

 with C. regalis. A specimen taken by Mr. Silas Stearns at Pensaeola seems 

 to answer to Holbrook's description, and we have found 2 similar speci- 

 mens in the museum at Cambridge, one (No. 438, M. C. Z.) from Pass 



