322 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



in lateral series 55; dorsal rays xi+ i,24 (or 25): anal rays i,7; lower caudal lobe longer than 

 upper. Color: silvery gray, with obscure dusky bars on back and sides; a dark bar at nape; 

 pectoral fins yellow, with dusky tip. 



This is a common species from Chesapeake Bay to Texas on sandy shores^ 

 and is the principal member of the genus at Beaufort and other points on the 

 North Carohna coast. The prevaihng local name is "sea mink/' but "whiting" 

 is also in use, and of late the name "king-fish" has come into vogue through trans- 

 fer from the New York market. Another name that is quite local is "Virginia 

 mullet", which is heard from Beaufort to Wilmington. 



About Roanoke Island, where this fish is known as "king-fish", "sea mullet", 

 and "round-head", it is abundant and bites freely at the hook from May to Sep- 

 tember; the average weight of line-caught fish in that section is reported to be 

 1.5 pounds, but some fish are said to weigh 3 pounds. In Pamlico Sound, during 

 the winter of 1901-2, 2 kingfishes each 7 inches long, and laterally connected so 

 as to constitute twins, were caught with hook and line by Joseph H. Kemp, of 

 Baltimore, Maryland. 



Fig. 144. King-fish; Carolina Whiting. Menticirrhus americanus. 



In the Cape Lookout fisheries, the "sea mullet" is common; it there usually 

 runs .5 pound, but examples weighing 1 pound or more are often taken. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. W. H. Yopp, this fish is supplied to the Wilmington market from July 

 to December, being known there as "Virginia mullet"; it weighs from .5 pound to 

 1.5 pounds, and brings the fishermen 3.5 cents a pound on an average. 



In the Beaufort region the laboratory seines take this species everywhere, 

 but not in great numbers at any one time, and no large specimens have been 

 obtained in this way. The species is most abundant in spring, but is also present 

 in numbers in fall, when it is found in schools on the outer beaches. During 

 summer the fish is almost entirely absent from the Beaufort waters. 



The species is a bottom feeder, and subsists chiefly on small mollusks and 

 crustaceans, although it will sometimes bite readily at a hook baited with 

 fish. The spawning season is early June, and ripe fish of both sexes have been 

 noted at Beaufort during the first week of that month. 



