FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
293 
besides having dark V-shaped body markings, differed chiefly in the more dusky coloration of the 
two dorsals and the pectorals. 
Many specimens ranging in length from 22 to 393 millimeters to 15)4 inches) were pre- 
served. This fish usually is readily distinguished from M. saxatilis by the plainer coloration. 
Some specimens of saxatilis, however, are so obscurely marked that other characters must be relied 
upon for identification. The alleged difference in the number of soft rays in the second dorsal, 
mentioned in current descriptions, does not appear to exist. In 22 specimens of M. americanus 
examined for this character, five had 24 rays, sixteen had 25, and seven had 26. The number of 
anal rays is of some value, however, as M. americanus typically has 7, rarely 8, rays in the anal fin, 
and M. saxatilis typically has 8, rarely 9, rays. The longest dorsal spine in the adult in americanus 
is never as high as in saxatilis, and the scales are somewhat larger. M. americanus is most readily 
separated from M. littoralis by the size of the scales on the chest, which in americanus are scarcely 
smaller than the scales elsewhere on the body, whereas in littoralis they are notably reduced in size. 
The smallest specimens (22 millimeters) at hand do not differ notably from the adults except in 
color, as shown in the description, and in the proportionately longer and more pointed lower lobe 
of the caudal fin. 
Fig. 171. — Young, 39 millimeters long 
The food of this fish, as shown by the contents of 21 stomachs taken from specimens collected 
in Chesapeake Bay, consists of crustaceans and fish, the two foods being present in the proportion 
of about 85 per cent crustaceans (chiefly shrimp) and 15 per cent fish. 
The spawning habits of this fish are not well known, and the eggs and larvae have not been 
studied. Smith (1907, p. 332) states that this fish spawns in June at Beaufort, N. C. Welsh and 
Breder (1923, p. 186), however, found no ripe or spent fish on the coast of New Jersey as late as 
August, 1920, and these authors produce some evidence indicating that the fish probably spawns in the 
fall in the Gulf of Mexico. It is evident, therefore, that the information is far from complete. 
On May 20, 1922, two ripe males, 286 and 310 millimeters (11)4 and 12)4 inches) in length, 
were trawled off Cape Charles, and on the following day a number of males and females, 11 to 12)4 
inches long, with well-developed gonads, were seined along the beach at Cape Charles. 
On June 11, 1921, many of the fish in the Norfolk market contained nearly ripe eggs, while 
some apparently had already spawned. The presence of ripe males in May and of nearly ripe 
males and females, together with spawned-out fish, in June, followed by the presence of young, 
three-fourths inch or more in length, early in the summer, indicates that this species spawns in 
Chesapeake Bay during the spring and probably early summer. 
The commercial catch of kingfishes in the Chesapeake includes three species (M. americanus, 
M. littoralis, and M. saxatilis ) which resemble each other so closely that they are not separated by 
the fishermen. However, one species ( M . americanus) is more abundant than the others. The 
statistics that follow include all three species. 
