Resorrs oF or Sra Trovt. 83 
It is also sprinkled all over, including its dorsal fins and tail, 
with jet black dots about the size of a pea. 
Professor Mitchill, in writing of the squeteague, states: 
“A beautiful variety of this fish‘is sometimes seen with the 
following characters, to wit: Spotted squeteague—[ Lab. Sq. 
maculatus], There are black, well-defined spots among the 
specks over the back and sides, and checkering the caudal 
and second dorsal fins. The pectoral fins are rather small; 
ventral and anal fins not yellow, but brownish. The parts 
thus variegated with spots have a pretty appearance,” With- 
out doubt, the professor alluded to the Southern sea trout ; 
and as it shoals with the squeteague, and only visits the 
shores of New Jersey occasionally and in small numbers, he 
did not see proper to distinguish it by other than a peecnliarly 
marked variety of the squeteague; whereas it differs more 
palpably from the squeteague than do some families of the 
mackerel tribes, eminently the Spanish mackerel and the cero, 
which differ only in the color of their spots, the first being 
gold color, and the latter black. 
The sea trout is superior to the squeteague as a table-fish ; 
its scales are about the same size, but firmer, brighter, and 
not so viscid. As a game fish, it is fully equal to the sque- 
teague, as free a biter, and as readily netted. Both fishes are 
summer spawners, laying from 175,000 to 700,000 eges. 
The sea trout appears along the coast and estuaries of the 
Southern States nearly all the year round, but takes the hook 
most freely from June until December. It is taken of all 
sizes between a pound and fifteen pounds’ weight, and if there 
is a difference in game between this fish and the squeteague, 
it is in favor of the sea trout, which is a heavier fish of its 
size, and rather more elaborately rigged with fins. It should 
ke angled for in the same manner and with the same tackle 
used for taking squeteague; andeshedder crab is its weak- 
ness. But as all the shores and estuaries of the South are 
alive with crabs, as well as other erustacea, baits are easily 
obtained for striped bass, trout, golden mullet, hogfish, grunt- 
