444 REPORT OF THE 



Family SCIiENID^E. Croakers, etc. 



168. Weakfish ; Squeteague {Cynoscion regalis Bl. & Schn.). 



The Weakfish appears in Dr. Mitchill's Memoir on the Fishes of New York under 

 its present name. He also refers to it as the Squeteague and Checouts, the former 

 being a Narragansett Indian name and the latter derived from the Mohegans. 

 This fish has a great many common names in different localities, the most inappro- 

 priate being Trout, or Sea Trout, in use in the Southern States. 



Dr. Mitchill gives an explanation of the name Weakfish, and DeKay also 

 explains the term. At the time of DeKay's writing, 1842, and for some years 

 previous, the Weakfish was present in diminished numbers. The Bluefish was then 

 present in abundance, and the disappearance of the Weakfish was supposed to be 

 connected with the reappearance of the Bluefish. The Weakfish ranges from the 

 Bay of Fundy to the east coast of Florida. It fluctuates in abundance from year 

 to year. The fish feeds in the channels upon shrimp, crabs and small fish. In Great 

 South Bay we found it eating large quantities of anchovies. The fish enters the 

 mouths of rivers and migrates freely with the tide. Spawning begins in the latter 

 part of April or early in May. The fish is in its best condition during the fall 

 migration, in September and October. At night the Weakfish runs up the creeks 

 to feed in the salt meadows, and will take the hook freely. 



This species swims in large schools near the surface and is very voracious, 

 destroying the young even of its own kind. A specimen of about 4 pounds, taken 

 at Islip October i, 1890, had in its stomach a weakfish weighing about 6 ounces. 



In 1844, according to Ayres, the fish had almost entirely disappeared from the 

 vicinity of Old Man's Harbor; only a few small stragglers were caught with the 

 nets, the largest only about i^ pounds. Ayres stated, however, that they were 

 more common on the south side of the island, and occasionally weigh 10 or 12 

 pounds. 



Young Weakfish were rather common at Blue Point Cove August 13 and 16, and 

 at Nichols's Point, September i, 1898. In the summer of 1901 young Weakfish 

 were unusually scarce in Great South Bay ; it was said that they were not uncom- 

 mon in Shinnecock Bay. Adults were rather abundant. Some very large schools 

 were seen. 



169. Spotted Weakfish {Cynoscion ncbulosus C. & V.). 



The Spotted Weakfish is known also as Spotted .Sea Trout. It is a native of 

 the South Atlantic and Gulf coast of the United States, its range extending from 



