340 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
We provisionally use the name strumosus for the specimens in hand, as it has priority over 
virgatulus. The true relationship of the species will necessarily remain in doubt until a more 
thorough study of the genus can be made. 
The food of this little fish, as shown by the contents of 26 stomachs, consists mainly of isopods 
and amphipods and an occasional .annelid. 
Spawning evidently takes place in the spring, as most of the specimens taken in April and May 
contained well-developed gonads. Those taken later in the season appeared to be spent. The small- 
est ripe female seen was only 1 % inches in length. 
It is difficult to determine the rate of growth of this fish because of the small size attained and 
because of the gradation of all sizes taken throughout the spring, summer, and fall. The smallest 
fish secured, a specimen 19 millimeters (four-fifths inch) in length, was taken on October 10. 
The maximum size of G. virgatulus, which is herein considered identical with strumosus, as 
given by Jordan and Evermann (1896-1900, p. 2333), is 4 inches. It seems doubtful that the 
clingfish ever grows that large in Chesapeake Bay, as the largest of hundreds taken during the 
present investigation was only 2% inches in length. This small fish, although previously only twice 
recorded from the Chesapeake, is quite common. It was rather scarce from Buckroe Beach to 
Cape Henry and at Cape Charles, but common to abundant from the York River to Annapolis. 
It was found in large numbers in the lower Rappahannock and Patuxent Rivers, where it was 
taken in company with pipefishes and sticklebacks on grassy bottom in 1 to 3 feet of water. 
Although rather common at Annapolis, none were seined along the shores at Love Point. One 
specimen, however, was trawled off Love Point on May 13 in 110 feet of water; none were found in 
the vicinity of Baltimore or Havre de Grace. 
The clingfish, by means of its large sucking disk, is able to attach itself to shells, rocks, piling,, 
etc., and it is not infrequently found adhering to such objects. For this reason it is sometimes not 
taken in nets in localities where it is comparatively common. A few individuals were taken by the 
Fish Hawk during the winter months in water ranging in depth from 7 to 17 fathoms. 
Habitat. — Chesapeake Bay; probably to Florida or beyond. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: Magothy River and St. Georges Island, Md. 
(6) Specimens in collection: From many localities between Annapolis, Md., and the mouth of the 
bay. 
Order PLECTOGNATHI 
Family LXXXVII. — BALISTIDAi. The trigger fishes 
Body usually rather deep, considerably compressed; snout long; eye small, placed high; mouth 
small, usually terminal; teeth in the jaws in a single series, frequently incisorlike; gill openings 
represented by oblique slits; preopercular bones externally not evident; scales more or less plate- 
like, bearing spines or bony tubercles; dorsal fins 2, the first spine high and strong; ventral fins 
represented by a single stout spine attached to the enlarged pubic bone. A single genus of this 
family of tropical fishes comes within the scope of the present work. 
150. Genus BALISTES Linnaeus. Trigger fishes 
Body compressed, rather deep; snout long; eye small, placed very high; mouth small, terminal; 
gill opening an oblique slit with enlarged bony scutes behind it; teeth in the jaws irregular, usually 
very strong; scales platelike, usually bearing spinules; first dorsal with three spines, the first one 
much enlarged, erect and fixed when the second one is erect, readily laid back upon deflexing the 
second spine, hence the name “trigger fishes”; second dorsal and anal long, usually similar; ven- 
trals represented by a single median spine. A single species has been taken in Chesapeake Bay. 
A second one is recorded from both north and south of the bay and may be expected within the 
bay. Accordingly, the following key, showing the chief differences of the two, is introduced: 
