386 NATUEAL HISTOEY OP EQUATIO ANIMALS. 



thin in form and hardly marketable, but after a few days' rest and refreshment in the bays they 

 become fat and desirable for food. The schools having entered the harbors, become somewhat 

 scattered and go to the feeding-grounds, where they are largely taken with hook and line and 

 seine. Any movement seaward to balance this must be gradual, and takes place, I think, in 

 summer, for it is not noticeable. 



" The Sheepshead spawns in April and May, in the bays. On June 18, 1878, and in June, 

 1879, 1 caught young Sheepsheai, measuring a quarter of an inch, in Pensacola Bay. It lives 

 about wharves, rock-piles, old wrecks, oyster-reefs, and, in South Florida, about the roots of the 

 mangrove tree, feeding upon the barnacles that grow in such places. It is caught with hook and 

 line, in fall and winter, at which seasons it is in its best condition. Its average weight is three or 

 four pounds, and its maximum twenty pounds." 



When the Sheepshead first appear on our northern coast it is stated by several writers that 

 they are always thin and unfit for food ; it would seem from this as if their spawning season was 

 just ended. No one, however, has made any careful observations upon this point north of Florida. 



In the South, Sheepshead are usually small, rarely exceeding two pounds in weight. This is 

 also the case in Florida, although large individuals are occasionally seen. About New York Harbor 

 they sometimes weigh from twelve to fifteen pounds, though the average size is not more than half 

 this weight. All authorities agree that the Sheepshead is one of the very finest food-fishes in our 

 waters, many persons preferring it to the salmon, while others compare it to the English turbot, to 

 which, however, it is doubtless much inferior. 



In the North the Sheepshead is almost always boiled, but the smaller fish, more commonly 

 taken in the South, are well suited for frying or broiling. 



The Pin-fish — Diplodus Holbeookii. 



This fish, which is abundant at Charleston and about Beaufort, North Carolina, was first 

 scientifically described by Dr. Bean from specimens obtained in Charleston market, in March, 

 1878. Jordan found it abundant everywhere near the shores of Beaufort, North Carolina, in 

 which region it reaches but a small size, and is not used as food. It is confounded by the fisher- 

 men with the Sailor's Choice. 



129. THE SCUP OR SCUPPAUG— STENOTOMUS VERSICOLOR AND S. GARDEOT. 



Until very recently only one species of the genus Stenotomus was known to occur in our waters. 

 Dr. Bean has recently shown that there are two on the Atlantic coast of the United States, in 

 addition to the unimportant species, 8. caprinus, recently described from the Gulf of Mexico. 



The "Scup" of the North, Stenotomus versicolor, is by far the most important, though the 

 Southern species, 8. Oardeni, has considerable commercial value. The former, which is distin- 

 guished by its larger teeth and more abrupt profile, is abundant between Cape Cod and Cape Hat- 

 teras, the latter has its metropolis on the Carolina coast, but has been found sparingly as far north 

 as Wood's HoUj Massachusetts. 



The Scup, which in many respects resembles the Sheepshead, is often known in New England 

 as the " Scuppaug," this word being an abbreviation of Mishcjippauog, the name applied to it by 

 the Narragansett Indians. It is to be regretted that it has been corrupted to form two others, 

 neither of which is euphonious or significant. In New England it is generally called " Scup," 

 while about New York the second syllable of the abbreviated Indian name has been lengthened 

 into "Paugy " or "Porgy," The latter name is particularly objectionable because it belongs to the 



