REVIEW OF LOCAL FISHES 71 



The Drum reaches a very large size, sometimes weighing over a hundred 

 pounds. Although no fish of this family has molar teeth in the mouth, 

 the Drum has very broad flat-crowned molar teeth on the bones of the 

 throat. These tooth-bearing throat bones frequently excite the interest 

 of persons finding them along the shores and are sent to the Museum for 

 identification. They are said to be used by the Drum in crushing shell- 

 fish, and this species is reputed to be destructive to oysters. This fish 

 reaches a very large size, those of -fifty to eighty pounds not being rare, 

 and there is a record from Florida of an 146-pound example. It is taken 

 on the New Jersey coast by casting through the surf. 



All the fishes of the Weakfish family are excellent as food, except 

 that large individuals of such large species as Channel Bass and Drum 

 have a coarse flesh which is sometimes wormy. Small forms like the 

 Silver Perch, Lafayette, Croaker and Kingfish are particularly delicate 

 in flavor, although the Kingfish is the only one that has a local reputation 

 as a table fish. 



XI. MACKEREL-LIKE FISHES 



(Scombriformes, etc.) 



These are carnivorous species of free-swimming habits. All have 

 deeply forked tails and narrow firm peduncles, an arrangement best 

 suited for propelling the fish at a rather high speed through extensive 

 stretches of open water. The eight species of true Mackerels are char- 

 acterized by pointed, more or less cigar-shaped bodies, a first dorsal fin 

 of weak spines depressible in a slot in the back, and the soft dorsal fin 

 and anal fin below it are short with a number of isolated finlets between 

 them and the tail. The snout is pointed and of one solid piece so that the 

 upper jaw is not capable of being thrust forward. In the Mackerel and 

 Chub Mackerel there is no central keel on the caudal peduncle, although 

 there are two small keels obliquely placed, one at the base of each 

 caudal lobe. These two species resemble each other very closely but 

 the Chub Mackerel has nine or ten spines in the first dorsal fin instead 

 of eleven or twelve as in the Mackerel. In adult Chub Mackerels the 

 lower part of the side is mottled instead of plain silvery, and the eye is 

 distinctly larger than in mackerel of the same size. There is also a trans- 

 lucent area on the snout much more conspicuous than that in the Mackerel. 

 The Mackerel schools occur offshore in spring and summer and young 

 ones are regularly taken in inshore waters in fall. The Chub Mackerel 

 is of irregular occurrence and abundance in summer. A full-grown 

 Mackerel averages about a foot long and weighs about a pound. 



