328 



FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



short and broad; pectorals .75 length of head; ventrals .5 length of head. Color: dull blackish, 

 blackish green, or blackish blue, often with irregular darker blotches or bands; lips, chin, throat, 

 and belly lighter, sometimes white; eye green; young green or brown, more or less mottled with 

 darker, or with dark, connected cross bands, (onitis, a kind of plant; application of name not 

 known.) 



The tautog or "oyster-fish" reaches the southern Umit of its range about 

 Charleston, S. C, whence it is found as far north as New Brunswick; in the 

 southern New England and Middle States it is abundant, and is a food fish of 

 considerable importance, being caught mostly with hand lines. It is strictly 

 a bottom species, preferring rocky or broken shores, where, sheltered in a crevice 

 or by an overhanging rock, it often lies on its side or with its head or tail turned 

 upward. The eyes are very movable, and the fish keeps a sharp lookout for 

 food or enemies, rotating its eyes in a peculiar manner. Its strong teeth enable 

 it to crush crustaceans and mollusks, which constitute its chief food; in New Eng- 

 land it is especially fond of lobsters and crabs, which it attacks and dispatches 

 very skilfully. 



Fig. 147. Tautog. Tautoga onitis. 



The flesh is white, flaky, and well flavored. The maximum length is 3 

 feet, but the average is 12 to 15 inches and fish 2 feet long are not common. 

 Spawning occurs in early summer. The eggs are numerous; a fish weighing less 

 than 10 pounds has been known to yield more than 1,000,000 eggs. The eggs 

 are buoyant, 1mm. in diameter, float at the surface, and hatch in 2 or 3 days 

 when the water temperature is 70° F. 



In North Carolina, where the species is called "oyster-fish", it is not abun- 

 dant and supports no special fishery. The fish referred to by Lawson (1709) as 

 the ''sea tench" is identified by Dr. Gill (1903) as the tautog. At Beaufort it is 

 not uncommon, and the young have at times been reported as "abundant about 

 the wharves". On March 27, 1906, a specimen was caught with hook and line 

 from the pier on Fivers Island in Beaufort Harbor. In 1897 a catch of 14,125 

 pounds of tautog was reported, but in 1902 the quantity taken was only 2,650 



