FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
287 
dinary size. The five largest were 19 to 20 inches in length and ranged in weight from 3 pounds 
6 ounces to 4 pounds 2 ounces. The last-mentioned fish is the largest recorded from Chesapeake 
Bay and about the maximum size attained by the species. 
Habitat. — Massachusetts to Texas. Not common north of New Jersey. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: Various parts of the southern sections of the bay. 
(b) Specimens in collection: From many localities, from Baltimore southward. Reported by 
fishermen as rare north of Baltimore, where it was not seen by us. 
Comparison of lengths and weights of croakers 
Number of fish weighed and 
measured 
Length 
Weight 
Inches 
3 
Ounces 
0.2 
43^ 
5 
.5 
.7 
5K 
6 
1.0 
2 
1.3 
9_ 
ey 2 
7 
1.6 
7... 
2.0 
5 
m 
8 
2.5 
8 
3. 1 
8 
sy 2 
9 
3.7 
4 
4.3 
0_ 
9M 
10 
5.3 
8 .. 
6.2 
9.. 
ioy 2 
li 
7.5 
5.. 
8.7 
Number of fish weighed and 
measured 
Length 
37 
Inches 
ny 2 
12 
12 hi 
13 
13 H 
14 
li'A 
15 
15 H 
16 
16H 
17 
19 
19H 
20 
65 
28 
36 
16. 
17 
13 
16 
5 
6. 
3 
1 
2 
2 
i 
Weight 
Pounds 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
3 
3 
4 
Ounces 
9.5 
10.8 
12.2 
14.0 
0 
1.3 
3.0 
5.0 
7.4 
9.0 
12.8 
4.0 
14.0 
14.0 
' 2.0 
125. Genus POGONIAS Lacepede. Black drums 
Body rather deep; back elevated, ventral outline nearly straight; mouth moderate; the jaws 
with bands of short teeth; lower pharyngeal bones united, armed with strong paved teeth; chin with 
numerous small barbels; preopercular margin entire; gill rakers short and blunt; air bladder large, 
thick, complicated in structure; dorsal fins contiguous, the first with long, slender spines; caudal fin 
nearly square; second anal spine greatly enlarged. A single species occurs in the North American 
fauna. 
158. Pogonias cromis (Linnseus). Drum; Black drum. 
Labras cromis Linnseus, Syst. Nat., ed. XXI, 1766, p. 479; Carolina. 
Pogonias cromis Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 1482, PI. CCXXV, fig. 573. 
Head 2.9 to 3.45; depth 2.65 to 2.8; D. X-I, 20 to 22; A. II, 6 or 7; scales 41 to 45. Body 
oblong, compressed; the back much elevated; ventral outline nearly straight; head moderately short; 
snout blunt, 2.85 to 3 in head; eye 2.85 to 3.95; interorbital 3 to 4; mouth horizontal; lower jaw 
included, with numerous small barbels, none of them exceeding half the length of eye; maxillary 
scarcely reaching middle of eye; 2.55 to 2.8 in head; teeth in jaws in broad bands, none of them 
especially enlarged; preopercular margin entire; gill rakers very short, 14 to 16 on lower limb of first 
arch; scales firm, ctenoid, reduced in size on head; dorsal fins contiguous, the first with stiff, slender 
spines, the third spine longest; notably higher than any of the rays in second fin; caudal fin subtrun- 
cate; anal fin short, the second spine much enlarged; ventral fins rather large, inserted slightly behind 
base of pectorals; pectoral fins long, pointed, 3.3 to 3.6 in length. 
Color of a 37-inch male, silver}' with brassy luster in life, becoming dark gray after death; 
grayish white below; all fins dusky or black. Color of specimens 7 inches in length, back and sides 
silvery; dusky white below; sides with four or five vertical black bars; all fins more or less dusky or 
black, except pectorals, which are plain. The caudal sometimes is plain translucent in young. 
This species is represented in the present collection by 17 specimens, ranging in length from 
75 to 235 millimeters (3 to 9}4 inches). Larger individuals, weighing upward of 40 pounds, were 
seen. 
49826—28 19 
