Tbe S 'beeps bead Family 253 



As might be inferred from the character of its 

 teeth, the sheepshead resorts to mussel shoals, 

 oyster bars, bridge piers, and old wrecks, where 

 mussels and barnacles abound, and on which it 

 feeds, pinching them from their beds with its 

 strong incisor teeth and crushing them with its 

 molars. It is gregarious, feeding in schools, 

 especially in southern waters, several hundred 

 having been taken on a single tide at places in 

 Florida. It appears in northern waters in June 

 and disappears in the fall, probably wintering at 

 great depths of the sea contiguous to the coast. 

 Its usual maximum weight in northern waters is 

 from three to six pounds, though occasionally 

 reaching ten, fifteen, or even twenty pounds, 

 though these heavy fish are exceedingly rare. Its 

 average size in Florida is less than in the North. 



It is highly esteemed on the East Coast as a 

 dinner fish, baked or boiled, and owing to its fine 

 flavor has been called the turbot of America, 

 though it is really much superior, in northern 

 waters, to that vaunted aldermanic delicacy. In 

 Florida, however, it is very lightly esteemed as 

 a food-fish, and is seldom eaten where other and 

 better fishes are available. Perhaps its abun- 

 dance has something to do with its depreciation, 



