Aplodinotus 



The drum is found from New England to the Rio Grande, and is 

 a common and well-known fish on sandy shores everywhere, particu- 

 larly southward. It is one of the largest food-fishes on our coast. 

 The largest example on record was taken at St. Augustine, Florida, 

 and weighed 146 pounds. Examples weighing 50 to 80 pounds are 

 not rare, though those seen in market weigh only a few pounds. The 

 drum is a sluggish fish, feeding'chiefly at the bottom, where their long, 

 sensitive barbels aid them greatly in their search for food, which con- 

 sists mostly of crustaceans and mollusks, which they easily crush with 

 their strong, paved pharyngeal teeth. They are believed to be very 

 destructive to oyster-beds, particularly southward. 



The drum makes a loud drumming noise, especially during the 

 breeding season, a habit shared by many other members of the family. 

 Small fish under about 20 pounds are said not to drum. The males 

 drum loudest, the females in a softer tone, and the drumming is prob- 

 ably for the purpose of attracting the opposite sex. 



In the northern portion of its range it is not regarded as a food-fish 

 of any value, but from Chesapeake Bay southward it is held in higher 

 esteem. The flesh is coarse, though tender and of delicate flavour. 

 The roe are considered a great delicacy and are often salted and 

 dried. 



The drum is usually taken in seines or traps, but it takes the hook 

 readily when baited with a crab or shrimp, and its large size makes its 

 capture and landing a matter of no little interest to the angler. 



The scales of the drum are used to some extent in Florida in the 

 manufacture of the sprays of flowers and other articles of fancy-work 

 which are sold under the name of "fish-scale jewelry." They are 

 large and silvery, and so hard that it is necessary to remove them with 

 an ax or hatchet. 



Colour, grayish silvery, with 4 or 5 broad dark vertical bars, these 

 disappearing with age; usually no oblique dark streaks along the rows 

 of scales above; fins blackish. 



GENUS APLODINOTUS RAFINESQUE 



This genus contains a single species, Aplodinotus grunniens, a large 

 freshwater fish occurring in our larger lakes and sluggish streams and 

 bayous from the Great Lakes and west of the AUeghenies southward 

 through the Mississippi Valley to Louisiana, and in lowland streams 



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