SCI2ENID2E OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES COAST. 
175 
Volumetric 
percentage. 
Schizopodous forms 86 
Isopods 5 
Amphipods 5 
Unidentified crustaceans 1 
Polychset worms 2 
Fish 1 
A single specimen 7.6 cm. long had taken a small fish of 1.1 cm. in length, but 
it was too mutilated to identify further. 
Stellifer lanceolatus (Holbrook). Bullhead, Star Drum. 
Stellifer lanceolatus (fig. 36) is one of the most abundant fishes on the South 
Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is found on sandy or muddy bottom in from 2 to 10 
fathoms of water and is taken in vast numbers in the trawls of the shrimp fishermen, 
but, being small and bony, is not utilized. It rarely exceeds 16 cm. (61 inches) in 
length, and the average adult size taken by the shrimp trawlers is about 10 to 13 
cm. (4 to 51 inches). 
Spawning occurs in late spring or early summer, May and June being the 
principal months on the Atlantic coast. The eggs and larval and early post-larval 
stages have not been studied. 
Examples 1.5 cm. in length already have the general form of the adult, but the 
head is proportionately much larger. The spines and fin rays are well developed, 
as is also the bony armature of the head, and the body is scaled. The color is pale 
(preserved specimens), with a few small black punctulations on the top of head 
and nape, a patch of blackish chromatophores on the opercular flap, a similar 
patch on the side beneath the spinous dorsal, and three or four single black chro- 
matophores on the ventral line of the caudal peduncle. 
At a length of from 2.5 to 3 cm. (fig. 35) a dark band or series of blotches 
appears on the body just below the dorsal fins; the membrane of the spinous dorsal 
is punctulate with brown; the premaxillary and mandible are edged with blackish; 
the opercular spot is conspicuous, and behind it lie a few groups of small black 
chromatophores; there is a dark vertical bar at the base of the caudal rays, and a 
row of black chromatophores appears on the ventral side of the caudal peduncle. 
This coloration and form soon gives place to that of the adult (fig. 36) . 
In general appearance the young of Stellifer lanceolatus resemble those of 
Micropogon and Leiostomus, but can be distinguished at once by the large head and 
strongly oblique mouth. 
On July 10, 1915, the steamer Fish Hawlc took large numbers of this species 
in Winyah Bay, S. C. Two very distinct year classes were then present, the young 
of the year showing a length of from 1 to 4 cm., with a mode of 3 cm., and the 1-year- 
old fish measuring from 7 to 10 cm., with a mode of 9 cm. Scale examination of 
fish from Fernandina, Fla., supplemented by actual measurement of large numbers 
of individuals, shows that a length of from 5 to 9 cm. is reached the first winter 
and from 8 to 14 cm. the second winter. Maturity is reached at the age of 1 year, 
