268 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
0.03 inch in diameter, and more than 1,500,000 are in a fluid quart. They float at the surface and 
hatch rapidly, only 40 hours being required in water of 76° or 77° F.” 
The sheepshead is taken in the Chesapeake in very limited numbers, from the Rappahannock 
River southward. In 1920 the catch was only 863 pounds, worth $129, all taken with pound nets. 
Some years ago this fish was an important commercial species in the bay, but the catch gradually 
has diminished, until at the present time the species has almost entirely disappeared. The small 
catch is readily absorbed by the Norfolk markets, as the sheepshead is a food fish of fine flavor. 
The Chesapeake fish are large, the size usually ranging from 5 to 15 pounds. The maximum recorded 
weight for the sheepshead is 30 pounds, but it rarely exceeds 20 pounds. 
In some sections of its range this fish furnishes much sport for the angler, as it is said formerly to 
have done in Chesapeake Bay, for it is a very game fish, being among the gamest of salt-water fishes. 
It is often common along breakwaters, stone jetties, piles, and other objects in the water that are 
overgrown with barnacles, oysters, etc. It is in such places where the angler must seek the species, 
and the most commonly used bait consists of small crabs. 
Habitat . — Cape Cod, Mass., to Texas, rarely to the Bay of Fundy. 
Chesapeake localities. — ( a ) Previous records: “Frequents the oyster localities of all parts of 
Chesapeake Bay” (Uhler and Lugger, 1876); lower Potomac, Cape Charles city and Norfolk, Va. 
(6) Specimens in collection: Lynnhaven Roads, Va.; observed in the Norfolk market and at Ocean 
View, Va. 
116. Genus DIPLODUS Rafinesque. Spotted-tailed pinfish 
Body ovate, compressed; back notably elevated; incisor teeth broad, not notched; molar teeth 
in several rows; gill rakers short; dorsal spines about 12; color silvery, with dark area on caudal 
peduncle. 
148. Diplodus holbrookii (Bean). Spot-tailed pinfish; Sailor’s choice. 
Sargus holbrookii Bean, Forest and Stream, June 13, 1878; Charleston, S. C. 
Diplodus holbrookii Bean, 1891, p. 90; Jordan and Evennann, 1896-1900, p. 1362, PI. CCXVII, figs. 555 and 555a. 
Head 3.65; depth 2.1; D. XII, 14; A. Ill, 13; scales 55 to 57. Body more or less elliptical, 
compressed; dorsal profile regularly rounded; eye rather small, 4.35 in head; mouth large, almost 
horizontal; maxillary failing to reach front of eye, 3.35 in head; four incisor teeth in each jaw, 
directed obliquely forward, three series of molars in upper jaw, two in the lower; gill rakers very 
short, about 14 on lower limb of first arch; dorsal fin continuous, rather low, longest spine less than 
half the head; caudal fin forked; anal fin noth three spines the second somewhat enlarged, the 
soft part of fin similar to that of dorsal; pectoral fins pointed, reaching origin of anal, about 3.35 in 
body. 
Color dull blue above, lower part of sides and below silvery; a conspicuous black blotch or 
band on anterior part of caudal peduncle; opercular margin black; base of pectorals black. The 
voung with about five narrow, vertical, dark stripes on back and sides, with an equal number of 
short intermediate stripes on back. 
No specimens of this species were secured during the present investigation. It is known from 
Chesapeake Bay only from a record by B. A. Bean, based on seven specimens collected by W. P. 
Seal at Cape Charles city, Va., in 1890. 
The species is not uncommon farther southward, and it is frequently seen along breakwaters 
and piers on the coast of North Carolina. One of us (Hildebrand) measured a specimen at Beau- 
fort, N. C., 14 inches in length, which probably is the maximum size attained. This fish is nowhere 
taken in sufficient quantity to be of commercial importance. 
Habitat . — Virginia to Cedar Keys, Fla. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous record: Cape Charles city, (b) Specimens in collection: 
None. 
