The Drum Family 215 



THE WEAKFISH 



( Cynoscion regalis) 



The weakfish, or squeteague, was first described 

 by Bloch and Schneider, in 1801, from the vicinity 

 of New York. They named it regalis, or " royal." 

 In the Southern states it is called gray-trout and 

 sea-trout. The name weakfish is doubtless derived 

 from the Dutch, and is said to have originally 

 meant a soft fish. Jacob Steendam, in a poem 

 in " Praise of New Netherland," in 1661, has 



" Weekvis, en Schol, en Carper, Bot, en Snoek," 



meaning weakfish, plaice, carp, turbot, and pike. 

 The name squeteague is of Indian origin. 



The natural habitat of the weakfish is along 

 the Atlantic coast south of Cape Cod, occasion- 

 ally straying to the Gulf of Mexico. It is most 

 abundant between Buzzards Bay and Chesapeake 

 Bay. It is a handsome, shapely fish, resembling 

 somewhat the salmon in outline. It has a robust 

 body, with a depth of about one-fourth of its 

 length. It has a long, pointed head, nearly as 

 long as the depth of the body. The mouth is 

 large, with projecting lower jaw. The teeth are 

 sharp, in narrow bands, with several fanglike 

 canines in front of the upper jaw. The dorsal 



