176 Big Game Fishes 



One could tell by the first glance at the sheeps- 

 head that it could not by any flight of the imagi- 

 nation be included in this class ; that enormous 

 white protruding under-jaw, the very archetype 

 of determination and obstinacy, tells the story. 

 The sheepshead remains winter and summer. 

 True, it may move out a few fathoms in February 

 or the preceding month, but it can be caught any 

 day in the year from San Diego to Santa Barbara 

 by boatmen who know the ways and haunts of 

 fishes. In general appearance the adult sheeps- 

 head is one of the most remarkable of fishes, due 

 to its enormous hump, or forehead, formed by a 

 fleshy pad, which gives it a most pugnacious ap- 

 pearance, the fish resembling an animated batter- 

 ing-ram. The body is deep, the tail powerful, 

 the pectoral fins ample ; and in swimming the 

 sheepshead uses them more than any fish that 

 I recall except some of the kelp, and parrot-fishes. 

 Its coloring is as remarkable as its shape. The 

 head of the adult male, its dorsal and anal fins, 

 the tail and the back part of the body are jet, 

 often blue black resembling velvet, the remainder 

 of the body brown, almost white or a deep crim- 

 son, the latter being the most prevailing color, 

 indicating a perfect physical condition. In con- 



