256 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
the high, soft rays in the dorsal and anal fins, giving the fish the appearance of having three tails. 
The lumpfish is taken in very limited numbers in the lower parts of the bay — that is, at Cape 
Charles and Lynnhaven Roads to Buckroe Beach, Va. No records of the yearly catch of this 
species are available. It is estimated, however, that the catch for 1922 did not exceed 1,000 
pounds, all taken in pound nets. 
A few fish are caught throughout the summer and fall, September and October yielding the 
largest number. Virtually the entire catch is marketed in Norfolk, where the species is known 
either as lumpfish or strawberry bass. The size of the fish observed in the market ranged from 
5 to 25 pounds. A fish 738 millimeters (29 inches) long weighed 25 pounds. 
Although widely distributed, this fish is not abundant anywhere. It is said to attain a maxi- 
mum length of 3 feet. 
Habitat . — Massachusetts to Uruguay. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: “Occasionally caught in the lower part of the 
Chesapeake Bay” (Uhler and Lugger, 1876); observed in the Norfolk fish markets (Fowler, 1912). 
(6) Specimen in collection: Lynnhaven Roads, Va.; also observed at Cape Charles, Norfolk, 
Buckroe Beach, and Ocean View, Va. 
Family LXIV. — LUTIANID/E. The snappers 
Body elongate, compressed; head rather large; mouth usually large, terminal or with the 
lower jaw slightly projecting; teeth rather strong, present on jaws and usually on vomer, palatines, 
and tongue; premaxillaries protractile; maxillary long, without a supplemental bone; nostrils 
rather close together, neither with a tube; opercles without spines; gills 4; gill membranes free 
from the isthmus; pseudobranchias large; lateral line present; scales ctenoid, adherent; air bladder 
present; dorsal single or double, with 10 to 12 strong spines; caudal fin merely emarginate to 
deeply forked; ventral fins thoracic, with I, 5 rays. 
109. Genus LUTIANUS Bloch. Snappers 
Body elongate, compressed; back more or less elevated; head long; snout pointed; mouth 
large; jaws with bands of teeth, the outer ones usually enlarged, the upper jaw usually with two 
to four canines anteriorly; pointed teeth also present on vomer, palatines, and tongue; preopercular 
margin serrate; gill rakers rather few; scales ctenoid, wanting on head or present only at nape; 
soft dorsal and anal scaly at base; dorsal spines 10 or 11, not separated from the soft rays; caudal 
fin emarginate or slightly forked; anal fin with III, 7 to 9 rays. 
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