220 LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



matures. The particular time and place, however, of laying the eggs is not known, 

 although it is probable that it occurs early in June, since the schools are said to break 

 up about the middle of that month, and the fish to scatter. It is thought probable 

 that the spawning takes place in the eel-grass that covers the shoal waters of Narra^ 

 gansett Bay and Vineyard Sound." Further south their sojourn upon the coast is 

 still longer, in accordance with the longer season. The scup grows rapidly, and when 

 two years old is almost large enough to be marketable. 



Like so many other of our fishes, the scup is variable in its abundance. At present 

 it is much less common than it has been in times past. Of their former abundance 

 on the south coast of New England, almost incredible accounts have been given. 

 " They swarmed to such a degree that their capture ceased to be a matter of sport. 

 The line, when thrown overboard, could be immediately withdrawn, with the assurance 

 of having a fish on each one of two hooks. Any number of fishermen fi'om boats 

 could take fi'om five hundred to one thousand pounds a day without the slightest dif- 

 ficulty, the limits being simply the ability to find a sale." At some other times, on 

 the other hand, the fish has been even less abundant than now. Professor Baird came 

 to the conclusion that there was good evidence to show that, prior to the year 1800, 

 there was at least one period, if not more, when it was extremely rare. " There is a 

 tradition that they first occurred at Newport about 1793, the sheepshead disappearing 

 about the same time." 



As a table fish the scup is moderately esteemed. Its flesh is firm and flaky, and 

 generally it is sweet and pleasant, although sometimes a bitter flavor detracts from its 

 palatabUity. In Professor Baird's estimation, the species is surpassed by very few 

 others on the coast, although its superabundance causes it to be undervalued. 



The scup is caught for the market in immense numbers in the pounds that are so 

 numerous along the southern New England and Long Island coasts. It is also a fish 

 that finds favor with the salt-water angler. It is generally fished for with the boat 

 still or at anchor, and the hook is generally baited with clams. It bites rapidly, and is 

 best secured, as soon as the bite is felt, by a dextrous movement of the hand. There 

 are certain fishing banks near the city of New York, to which regular daily excursions 

 are made in the summer, where the porgee and the sea-bass are the chief fishes taken. 



The royal member of the family Sparidse is the sheepshead. It may be distin- 

 guished at once by the broad cutting teeth in the front of the jaws, while its side teeth 

 are molars or grinders in several rows, like those of the scup or porgee. The ante- 

 orbital part of the head is quite deep, and, on account of its form and color, and the 

 teeth and manner of using them, the fish has derived its name of sheepshead. This 

 name is the one which is common to it along the entire coast, and, indeed, it has no 

 synonyms like almost all other species. The negroes of the south drop the middle ' s ' 

 and call it sheephead. 



The sheepshead occurs along the entire eastern coast, from southern Florida to 

 Cape Cod, as well as in the Gulf of Mexico. It is pei'haps most abundant in the north 

 along the south shore of New England, and between Cape May and Montauk Point. 

 It more especially affects oyster beds and deposits of mussels, upon which it feeds, 

 and it is also to be found " about wrecks of old vessels, on which barnacles and shells 

 abound." It stays mostly near the bottom, and is " quiet in its habits and little given 

 to wandering." In the southern regions, it frequents the in-shore water during the 

 winter season, but northward it retires from the shores in that season, putting in its 

 appearance in the spring, and leaving in the fall, early or late, according to latitude. 



