142 FISHES OF THE EAST ATLANTIC COAST. 



bottom, and throwing their weight on the rod and line, one of which 

 is liable, in the hands of an inexperienced angler, to be broken. 



JORDAN AND GILBERT'S DESCRIPTION, 



P chromis (Linn) Drum. Grayish silvery, with four or five dark vertical 

 bars, which disappear with age ; fins dusky ; body oblong, much compressed ; pro- 

 file very steep, its curve uneaven ; ventral outline little curved. Mouth moderate, 

 maxillary scarcely reaching middle of orbit. Scales large, those on breast much 

 smaller. Fins large, pectorals reaching beyond tips of ventrals, nearly to vent ; 

 second anal and spinal more than half length of head. Head above scaly, except a 

 triangular space on snout. Head 3 1-4 in length ; depth 2\, D. X, 20 ; A. II, 6; 

 Lat. I. 50. Cape Cod to West Indies ; abundant southward 



HOG-FISH PIG-FISH perhaps Lachnolcemus falcatus of Jordan 

 and Gilbert's Synopsis* At any rate a fish of fine quality, rich and 

 delicate. At Halifax Inlet it usually weighs about a pound, and in 

 some seasons quite abundant, in others rare. It gives good sport on 

 a rod, takes mullet bait and is found in deep channels. Color gray- 

 ish ; profile steep, form compressed ; teeth projecting similar to those 

 of the sheepshead. 



SAILOR'S CHOICE Pomadasys fulvomaculatus (Mitchell). Are 

 excellent pan lish, very abundant in the bays and sounds of Florida ; 

 in size from two ounces to a pound. Resembles in form the scup 

 of Northern waters. A very strong and active fish for its size, 

 making fine play on a light rod. The Synopsis gives it a length of 

 one foot, which is double the size of any that I have seen. 

 JORDAN'S DESCRIPTION. 



Light brown, silvery below, sides with numerous orange colored and yellow 

 spots ; those above the lateral line in oblique lines, those below in horizontal rows ; 

 vertical fins with similar spots ; head blueish with yellow spots ; angle of mouth 

 and gill membranes with orange. Body oblong, compressed, not much elevated. 

 Head long ; snout conic ; mouth low and small, the maxillary hardly reaching to 

 the nostrils ; outer teeth slender and rather short ; eye high, 4^ in head, nearly 

 midway in its length. Dorsal and anal entirely naked, with a sheath of scales 

 at base; anterior spines of ^dorsal higher than the posterior; spines, gradu- 

 ated; pectoral moderate. Head 3^ ; depth 3. D. XII., 16 ; A. III., 12 ; Lat. 

 I. 75. L. i foot. Atlantic coast from New York southward a food fish of 

 some importance. 



