Chopa Atnarilla; Salema 



Chopa Amarilla; Salema 



Archosargus unimaculatus (Bloch) 



This species is found among the Florida Keys and the West 

 Indies, and south to Brazil. It occasionally occurs as far north as 

 Charleston, and it is not uncommon about Key West, Cuba, and 

 Porto Rico. It reaches a foot in length and is a valuable pan-fish. 



Colour, olivaceous, silvery below, the upper parts with longitu- 

 dinal golden stripes, alternating with bluish interspaces; a black hu- 

 meral spot larger than eye. 



Common Sheepshead 



Archosargus probatocephalus (Walbaum) 



The sheepshead is one of our commonest and best-known fish, 

 its range extending throughout the entire length of our Atlantic and 

 Gulf coast from Cape Cod to Texas, but it has not been recorded 

 from the West Indies. The sheepshead is a bottom-loving species, 

 feeding upon small mollusks and other animals frequenting oyster- 

 beds and muddy shallow waters. From the Chesapeake to Indian 

 River, and again on the Gulf coast from Tampa to Corpus Christi, it 

 is generally abundant in all suitable places. In Indian River it is, 

 next to the mullet, the most abundant food-fish, and is found at all 

 times. Though playing in and out with the tide, and moving some- 

 what from place to place, it is not properly a migratory fish. It does not 

 school, as the mullets do, but is often found in considerable bunches, 

 brought together by presence of food. Feeding almost wholly upon 

 mollusks, crustaceans, and plants, it frequents oyster-beds and 

 similar places, particularly about inlets. The spawning season in 

 Indian River seems to be in February, extending perhaps into April. 

 The average weight in Indian River is only 3 or 4 pounds, and the 

 maximum 12 to 15 pounds. 



Though a salt-water fish, the sheepshead often runs far up fresh- 

 water rivers, particularly the St. Johns in Florida. Throughout its 

 entire range it is regarded as one of the very best food-fishes and is 

 of great commercial importance. There is no more common or 



442 



