130 AMERICAN FISHES. 
the St. John’s, which they ascend as far as Jacksonville, Giinther is by 
no means justified in his statement that this is ‘‘a fresh-water fish inhabit- 
ing the rivers of North America.”’ 
Like the other bottom-feeding members of this family, their food con- 
sists chiefly of the smaller mollusks and crustaceans. Little is known 
about their breeding habits in the North. Mr. S. C. Clarke states that at 
New Smyrna, Fla., they breed in the bays and inlets in November and 
December, while Stearns remarks that they spawn in the lower bays and 
inlets about Pensacola late in the fall, while the young of all sizes are very 
abundant in the spring. 
Concerning this species Prof. Baird writes: 
‘© Of the smaller pan-fish of our coast, in excellence of flavor none is 
considered superior to that known as the ‘ Lafayette.’ Its precise eastern 
range is not well ascertained, although it is occasionally taken in great 
numbers off Long Island and the coast of New Jersey. It is most plenti- 
ful off the coast of Virginia. 
‘« According to Dr. Holbrook, it is not much esteemed for food at 
Charleston, owing to a want of flavor. In the case of this species, as in’ 
many others, it is probable that the colder waters of the North impart a 
superior flavor and excellence to the flesh. This is well known to be the 
case with the sheepshead, as well as many other species. 
‘* At Beesley’s Point, N. J., where I have had an opportunity of 
studying its habits, it makes its appearance in large numbers in August, 
the first school being composed of small fish, large ones following them. 
A short time later they ascend the creeks in great numbers and are taken 
there in company with the white perch. Their usual size in New Jersey 
is about six inches, although occasionally measuring ten inches. They do 
not make their appearance in the New York markets in any abundance 
until towards the 1st of September, and remain until the end of October, 
when they disappear. I did not succeed in finding any very young fish, 
and am unable to state whether they actually spawn on the New Jersey 
coast, or whether the supply found there and further north consists of a 
‘run’ from the more southern waters of fish migrating northward, perhaps 
to escape the increased heat of the southern coast.’’ 
Mr. L. O. Van Doren, in the American Angler, gives an account of its 
merits as a game and food fish. 
««It swarms on the eastern coast during the hot months of July and August, 
and is caught even in September. 
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