FOOD OF THK RED FISH. 373 



The food is .similar to that of the striped bass, which it seems to resemble in habits. It preys 

 upon small lish and the crustaceans with which Southern waters are filled. They swim in scattered 

 schools at times, probably in the spawning season, and may be heard spring above the surface 

 while feeding. At this time the fish are taken in large gill-nets, which are set around them by the 

 tishermen. This species undoubtedly gathers much food from the bottom, although it cannot be 

 so much of a grubber as many other members of the same family, better provided for this kind of 

 foraging by the tactile organs under the chin, and a set of grinding teeth with which to liberate 

 the shells of muscles and barnacles. An accurate observer describes them as swimming along 

 close to the bottom, with head down and body obliquely upward, wriggling through the water, 

 rooting up the weeds and grass, among which it finds quantities of shrimps and crabs. Their 

 enemies are sharks, porpoises, and saw-fish. The power of uttering sounds is also shared by this 

 fish, but probably not to any very great degree. No one has reported observations upon this 

 point 



The movements and breeding habits of this fish have not been sufficiently studied to warrant 

 the framing of a generalized statement of their character. There is need of a careful investigation 

 of this question at different stations along the coast. 1 cannot here do better than to quote the 

 observations, as yet unpublished, of two excellent observers, one upon the east, the other upon the 

 west coast of the Florida Peninsula: "In the spring," writes Mr. Stearns, "they are seen in large 

 numbers in the Gulf, swimming in shoal water near the coast. This is usually in March and 

 April, though the weather and the temperature of the water seem to influence the time of their 

 arrival. Arriving at the entrance of a bay, their migratory movement ceases, and for days and 

 weeks they may be seen in shoal water near the inlet swimming lazily about in search of food, or 

 lying quite still in deep holes between shoals, where there is comparatively little current and few 

 enemies can reach them. Some seasons immense numbers of Bed Fish gather about the inlets before 

 any are noticed inside or coming in, while- in other seasons there is but slight accumulation, the 

 schools working in as fast as they arrive. By the 1st of June the 'run' is over, and the fish are 

 believed to have all come in. When once inside the schools break up into small squads, which 

 proceed to the weedy bottoms of the bayous and to the heads of the bays. About the river months, 

 where the water is brackish, and even in fresh water, they are found through the summer. While 

 at sea their color is light, and they are so thin in flesh that they are far from desirable as food. In 

 the bays they become very fat and their colors are much darker. In September spawn is found in 

 them in a half-developed state. In October and November they again form in schools and are 

 observed moving out of the inlets to the sea. They do not leave the coast immediately, but follow 

 the beach for some days. At this time they contain spawn which I should think to be three- 

 fourths developed. Many reliable fishermen here have observed that the Bed Fish go to sea with 

 spawn in them." 



I have never found the young in the north less than ten inches long, but in Peusacola Bay 

 Jordan and Stearns secured numerous young in the seine in April, the smallest measuring two and 

 a half inches. Jordan supposes that they spawn in water of no great depth. 



Mr. S. C. Clarke, however, tells the following story about Bass in the Indian Biver region : 

 'They enter the rivers and creeks from the sea. The young fish are here all the time. The 

 adults leave the shore in a body when done spawning. They are first seen off the coast in 

 January and February, and remain in the rivers until late in the spring. The males and females 

 swim together, frequenting localities on shoals and sand-banks, where the water is from one to four 

 feet deep and warm. After spawning they scatter. They begin to breed in August and Sep- 

 tember in the shallow bays and inlets, at which time both sexes are poor and unfit for food. The 



