178 
BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF FISHEBIES 
This species is represented in the present collection by 8 specimens, ranging in length from 60 
to 195 millimeters ( 2 % to 7% inches). The tongue fish is readily distinguished from the hog choker, 
the only other sole known from Chesapeake Bay, by the much more elongate body, the depth being 
contained about three times in the length. It also differs from its relative in having the eyes and 
color on the left side instead of the right; it has no fringed scales on the head, and the dorsal and 
anal fins are continuous with the caudal. 
Little is known of the feeding habits of this species. Two examples examined had fed on 
annelids, small crustaceans, minute bivalve mollusks, and apparently on plants. 
Nothing at all appears to be known concerning the spawning habits of the tongue fish. 
This species reaches a length of only 7% inches, the size of our largest specimen, and it has no 
commercial value. It is a rare fish in Chesapeake Bay and unknown to most of the fishermen. 
Habitat . — Chesapeake Bay to the northern part of the Gulf coast of Florida; rare north of 
Beaufort, N. C. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: Cape Charles city, Va. ( b ) Specimens in collec- 
tion: Off Hooper Island, off Point No Point, Md., and off Cape Charles city, Cape Charles, Old 
Point Comfort, and Ocean View, Va. One specimen (Ocean View) was taken in a haul seine on 
October 15, 1922. All the others were taken by the Fish Hawk in the deeper waters of the bay 
during January and March, 1914. 
Superorder ACANTHOPTERYGII 
Order THORACOSTEI 
Family XL1I. — GASTER0STE1D/E . The sticklebacks 
Body elongate, somewhat compressed, tapering both anteriorly and posteriorly; caudal peduncle 
long and slender; mouth moderate, more or less oblique; premaxillaries protractile; skin naked or 
with vertically oblong plates on sides; middle or sides of abdomen shielded by the produced innomi- 
nate bones; dorsal fin preceded by two or more free spines; caudal fin narrow, usually lunate; anal 
fin similar to soft dorsal, preceded by a single spine; ventral fins subthoracic, consisting of a strong 
spine and one or two rudimentary soft rays; pectorals rather short, inserted not far behind gill 
opening; air bladder simple; vertebrae 30 to 35. 
KEY TO THE GENERA 
a. Sides provided with vertically elongated bony shields; innominate bones united, forming a 
lanceolate plate on the middle of the abdomen Gasterosteus, p. 178 
aa. Sides entirely naked; innominate bones not joined, forming a ridge on each side of abdomen 
Apeltes, p. 180 
66. Genus GASTEROSTEUS Linnaeus. Sticklebacks 
Body elongate, compressed; tail long and slender; sides with few or many bony plates, various; 
innominate bones coalesced, forming a triangular or lanceolate plate on median line of abdomen; 
gill membranes united to the isthmus; dorsal fin with two free, nondivergent spines and a third one 
partly connected with the soft dorsal. A single species of this genus comes within the scope of the 
present work. 
86. Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus. Common eastern stickleback; Three-spined stickleback; 
“New York stickleback”; European stickleback. 
Gaterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. X, 1758, p. 489; Europe. 
Gasterosteus bispinosus Jordan and Everraann, 1896-1900, p. 748. 
Head 3.3 to 3.4; depth 4 to 4.2; D. II— I, 12 or 13, A. I, 8; lateral plates 32 or 33. Body elongate, 
notably compressed; caudal peduncle very slender, with a prominent keel on sides, its depth less 
than diameter of eye, about 6 in head; head rather long, compressed; snout pointed, 3.25 to 3.5 in 
head; eye 2.9 to 2.5; interorbital 3.7 to 4; mouth rather small, oblique, slightly superior; maxillary 
