FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
343 
This foolfish is represented in the present collection by 110 specimens, ranging from 31 to 80 
millimeters in length. This fish is recognized by the short, deep body, rough skin, the prominent, 
barbed dorsal spine, and the rough ventral spine. 
Numerous specimens examined at Beaufort, N. C., by Linton (1905, p. 401) had fed on bryo- 
zoans, small crustaceans and mollusks, gastropod eggs, annelids, small sea urchins, and alga?. Seven 
specimens examined from Chesapeake Bay, ranging in length from 60 to 80 millimeters, had fed 
mainly on annelids. One specimen contained fragments of shells of a mollusk, and three contained 
vegetable fragments. 
Nothing is known concerning the spawning and breeding habits of this fish, and so far as we 
are aware no fish with gonads in an advanced state of development has been observed. 
The foolfish reaches a maximum length of 10 inches. It is not eaten and has no commercial 
value. 
Fig. 205 . — Monacanthus hispidus 
Habitat . — Nova Scotia, south to Brazil; also recorded from the Canaries and Maderia in the 
eastern Atlantic. It is uncommon on the American coast north of Woods Hole, Mass., and it 
apparently does not occur regularly within Chesapeake Bay. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: Cape Charles city and Ocean View, Va. ( b ) 
Specimens in collection: Cape Charles, Va., 110 specimens, all taken on September 23, 1921, in 
6 hauls of a 250-foot bag seine. The species was not seen during other visits to Cape Charles, 
nor was it seen elsewhere in Chesapeake Bay during the present investigation. 
152. Genus CERATACANTHUS Gill. Foolfishes; Filefishes 
Body elongate, strongly compressed; mouth more or less superior; lower jaw projecting; gill 
opening consisting of a very oblique slit, much longer than eye; first dorsal consisting of a single, 
barbless spine; second dorsal remote from the first, its rays about 35 to 50; anal fin similar to soft 
dorsal; caudal fin more or less elongate, round, or somewhat pointed; pectoral fins very small; 
no external pelvic spine. A single species of this genus of warm-water fishes comes within the 
scope of the present work. 
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