276 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
From 1920 to 1922 the retail price of spots varied from 15 to 30 cents a pound. During the 
fall, however, an entire trayful of fish of about 60 pounds could be bought at a price varying from 
$4 to $10. The fish caught in the spring and summer usually weigh one-third to one-fourth of a 
pound, but the fish caught in the fall weigh from one-half to 1 pound each. The largest fish seen 
during the present investigation were taken at Ocean View, Va., on October 27, 1926. One of 
these individuals measured 13% inches in length and weighed 19 ounces, and another had a length 
of 13% inches and a weight of 22 ounces. These fish apparently represent the maximum length 
attained by the species. 
The spot is generally common in coastal waters of the Middle Atlantic States and southward. 
It ascends brackish and fresh-water streams, and occasionally is taken in strictly fresh water. 
“Spot” is the most generally used common name in Chesapeake Bay. In the vicinity of the mouth 
of the Potomac it is sometimes called “croaker,” and at Baltimore the name “silver gudgeon” was 
heard. 
Habitat . — Massachusetts to Texas. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: Various localities. (6) Specimens in collection: 
From every locality visited, from Havre de Grace, Md., to the entrance of the bay. 
Following is a table of comparisons of length and weights of spots taken in the lower parts of 
Chesapeake Bay during April and May and during September and October. In a measure the 
table brings out the fact, well known to fishermen and dealers, that fish are not as “fat” in the 
spring of the year as they are in the fall. 
Length, in inches 
Spring 
Fall 
Length, in inches 
Spring 
Fall 
Weight 
Number 
of fish 
weighed 
and 
measured 
Weight 
Number 
of fish 
weighed 
and 
measured 
Weight 
Number 
of fish 
weighed 
and 
measured 
Weight 
Number 
of fish 
weighed 
and 
measured 
Ounces 
Ounces 
Ounces 
Ounces 
4-4% .... 
0.5 
2 
8-82-13 
4. 0 
16 
4.0 
37 
4%-f% 
.75 
50 
8 l A-S% 
5. 0 
2 
5.0 
18 
5-5% 
]. 00 
117 
5.3 
1 
6.4 
19 
5%-5% 
1. 1 
6 
1.3 
142 

9H-9 7 A 
6.6 
1 
7.9 
23 
6-6% . 
1. 5 
24 
107 
1(M0H 
9.0 
20 
6%-6% 
1.9 
35 
2.3 
66 
lOHr-10% 
10.0 
10 
7-7% 
2. 7 
32 
2.9 
70 
12%-12% 
18.0 
1 
7%-7% 
3.2 
14 
3.4 
48 
13-13%;.... 
19.0 
i 
22.0 
i 
120. Genus SCIAENOPS Gill. Red drums 
Body elongate, compressed; back moderately arched; teeth in the jaws well developed; pre- 
opercle serrate in young, becoming entire with age; slits and pores about the mouth well developed; 
no barbels; no scales on soft dorsal; caudal fin pointed in very young, becoming square to slightly 
concave with age. A single species, reaching a large size, is known. " 
153. Sciaenops ocellatus (Linnaeus). “Drum”; “Red drum”; Redfish; Channel bass. 
Perea ocellata Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. XII, 1766, p. 483; South Carolina. 
Sciaenops ocellatus Uhler and Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 119; ed. II, p. 100; Bean, 1891, p. 89; Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, 
p. 1453, PI. CCXXII, fig. 567; Evermann and Hildebrand, 1910, p. 162; Welsh and Breder, 1923, p. 184. 
Head 2.85 to 3.3; depth 3.35 to 3.95; D. X-I, 23 to 25; A. II, 8; scales 40 to 45. Body elongate; 
back somewhat elevated; ventral outline nearly straight; head rather long and low; snout conical, 
3.3 to 3.8; eye 3.15 to 4.75; interorbital 3.7 to 4.6; mouth horizontal; lower jaw included, with large 
pores but no barbels; maxillary reaching nearly opposite posterior margin of eye, 2.1 to 2.45 in head; 
teeth in the jaws in villiform bands, the outer ones in the upper jaw enlarged; preopercular margin 
coarsely serrate; gill rakers short, 8 or 9 on lower limb of first arch; scales rather large, firm, strongly 
ctenoid, reduced in size on head; dorsal fins contiguous, the first composed of rather stiff, pungent 
spines, not much higher than the second; caudal fin pointed in very young, becoming straight to 
slightly concave in larger fish; second anal spine thick, much shorter than the longest soft rays; 
