252 
BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
long. Large males frequently are colored bright blue between the eyes. Color of Chesapeake 
Bay fish about 6 inches long: Blackish; centers of scales pale blue or white, often forming light 
longitudinal streaks; a blue streak on border of lower outline of orbit ; other blue streaks branching 
from the first one; dorsal reddish or bronze, with white spots forming 3 longitudinal stripes on 
spinous dorsal and 4 or 5 on soft dorsal; caudal with reddish bars at base, distally dusky, the lower 
rays pale or reddish; anal and ventrals bluish white or dusky; pectorals plain, sometimes tinged 
with yellowish brown. Young 2 to 3 inches in length brownish above, a dark brown or black 
lateral stripe from eye to base of caudal; frequently with indefinite dark crossbars on sides; brick- 
red markings below eye; spinous dorsal dusky, sometimes with a dark spot at base of posterior 
spines; soft dorsal with brick-red spots forming three or four rows; caudal and anal with reddish 
markings; ventrals plain; pectorals salmon. 
Numerous specimens of this species, ranging from 60 to 225 millimeters (2^4 to 9 inches) in 
length, were preserved. This fish is recognized by its dark color, nonfilamentous spines of the 
dorsal, and the round caudal with only one of the upper rays somewhat produced in the adult. 
The young, as indicated in the description, differ rather prominently from the adults in color. 
They also differ in having the soft parts of the dorsal and anal fins proportionately much lower,, 
and the caudal fin round, without a produced upper ray. 
The food of this fish in Chesapeake Bay, according to the contents of 19 stomachs, consists of 
crustaceans, fish, mollusks, and plants, named in the order of their apparent importance. Adults 
had fed chiefly on crabs and fish, and the young on shrimp, isopods, and amphipods. 
Spawning occurs in May on the North Carolina coast, probably late in May near the mouth 
of the Chesapeake, and from the middle of May until the end of June off the New Jersey, Long 
Island, and southern New England coasts. The eggs are pelagic, about 1 millimeter in diameter, 
and hatch in about 75 hours at a temperature of 60° F. (Wilson, 1891, p. 210.) 
The sea bass is usually most common on rocky and coral bottom and around the piling of 
wharves, etc. In several States it supports special fisheries. It is a voracious feeder and takes the 
hook readily, being taken in commercial quantities chiefly with hook and line. In Chesapeake 
Bay, however, it is of small commercial importance. During 1920 it ranked twenty-fifth in quan- 
tity and twenty-third in value, the catch being 5,100 pounds, worth $492. The entire catch is 
credited to Virginia, and in this State the sea bass ranked the same as for the entire Chesapeake 
region, namely, twenty-fifth in quantity and twenty-third in value. Eighty per cent of the fish 
were caught with hand lines and 20 per cent in pound nets. 
This species is taken only in the southern parts of the bay, the northernmost pound net for which 
records were secured being located at Solomons, Md., where small numbers are taken throughout 
the summer. A few fish are caught with hook and line in upper Tangier Sound, but the annual 
catch for Maryland is probably not more than a few hundred pounds. It is most common near the 
