214 



FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



more; and many years ago one weighing 28 pounds was caught at Cape Lookout 

 and forwarded to Professor Baird at Washington by Mr. George N. Ives. In the 

 State Museum at Raleigh there is a fine example of this fish taken in New Han- 

 over County in 1884 by Mr. H. H. Brimley, and in the same collection there are 

 several others from the southern part of the state; all of these are about 2.5 feet 

 long. In July, 1906, Dr. E. W. Gudger saw a 20-pound specimen at Hatteras. 

 The local fishermen have no more for it except " pompano". As a food fish it is 

 inferior to the smaller species. 



187. TRACHINOTUS CAROLINUS (Linnaeus.) 

 "Pompano"; "Sun-fish". 



Gasterosteus carolinus Linnseus, Systema Naturae, ed. xii, 490, 1766; Carolina. 



Trachynotus carolinus, Varrow, 1877, 209; Beaufort. Jordan & Gilbert, 1879, 377; Beaufort. Jordan, 1886, 

 27; Beaufort. 



Trachinolus carolinus, Jenkins, 1887,89; Beaufort. Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 944, pi, cxlvii, fig. 398. Lin- 

 ton, 1905, 366; Beaufort. 



Diagnosis. — Depth contained 2.33 to 2.4 times in total length; head .25 length; eye 

 equal to snout, contained 4.5 times in length of head; dorsal rays vi + i,25; anal rays ii + i,23: 

 ventrals about .5 length of pectorals and .4 length of head. Color: bluish or greenish on back 

 silvery on sides, rich golden yellow below; fins with bluish or yellowish shades. 



Fig. 91. Pompano. Trachinotus carolinus. 



This well-known food fish occurs on our Atlantic coast between Massachu- 

 setts and Texas, and is common from Chesapeake Bay southward. Its present 

 abundance on the North Carolina coast is not nearly so great as formerly. 

 Yarrow, referring to the year 1871, stated that it was abundant at Beaufort in 

 fall, and Jordan & Gilbert reported it as very abundant on the outer banks, the 

 young going in great schools in the surf. Examples from .5 inch to 4 inches long 

 are taken in Beaufort Harbor in summer, but spawning fish have not yet been 

 reported from that region. The local names for the species are "pompano" and 

 "sun-fish". The latter has been in use here since early colonial days, and was 

 employed in 1709 by Lawson, who wrote: 



