SCLENID^ or THE eastern united states coast. 
197 
The eggs and larvfe are unrecorded, and little is known of the life history. 
Inquiries at several institutions devoted to the study of natural science failed to 
reveal specimens of less than 8 cm. (3 inches) in their collections. At this size they 
are marked with five more or less complete vertical bars. Figure 58 illustrates the 
markings of an example 23.1 cm. (8.9 inches) long. As they become older and larger 
these markings finally fade out completely, until they become uniformly dusky. A 
confusion of names has arisen on the north Jersey coast in which this species is split 
in two by local anglers, who differentiate between a red drum and a black drum. 
J. T. Nichols, of the American Museum of Natural History, New York City, called 
the writers’ attention to this, and it was personally noted at Atlantic City, N. J., 
in 1920. 
The so-called “ black drum” is more chunky forward and of a dark grayish color, 
whereas the “red drum” is slimmer and somewhat reddish brown in hue. With 
just what this variation may be correlated is not known, but the very largest ex- 
amples we examined were all of the dark type. On the other hand, all small exam- 
ples just out of the banded stage are as far as known likewise of this type. Fishes 
in the red phase seem to be known only from the New Jersey coast. South of 
Atlantic City — that is, at Cape May — there is no such confusion, Pogonias having 
but one name — “black drum”— and “red drum” referring to Scisenops. In locali- 
ties where the confusion is common Scisenops is known as “channel bass.” At no 
place are professional fishermen known to recognize more than one name for Pogo- 
nias, this simply being an angler’s distinction, which at present, at least, has no 
scientific recognition. 
There appears to be a regular summer migration of large examples of Pogonias 
to the New Jersey coast. Specimens of less than 20 pounds in weight are decidedly 
rare thereabouts, although surf fishermen take small banded examples weighing 
about 12 pounds occasionally. 
This species attains the greatest size of any of the Scisenidse. A record from St. 
Augustine, Fla., gives 146 pounds as a maximum weight, and examples up to 60 
pounds are not rare. 
The food of these fish consists chiefly of various mollusks, for which their 
heavily paved phyrangeal teeth are admirably, adapted. They have from time to 
time been accused of committing depredations on oyster beds, having been known 
to completely annihilate small plants of that mollusk in a single raid. 
Eques acuminatus (Bloch and Schneider). Kibbon Fish, Cubbyu. 
Eques acuminatus has been recorded as ranging from North Carolina to Brazil. 
Little is known of its habits, and it appears to be a straggler on our coast but is not 
rare about the West Indies. Most records mention small examples, 7.5 to 12.5 cm. 
(3 to 5 inches). The form is rather similar to that of E. lanceolatus, but the mark- 
ings are very different, consisting of seven wide longitudinal light bands. In older 
specimens the light bands become narrower, and the junior writer has seen a series 
that connects it with Eques acuminatus umbrosus (Jordan and Eigenmann), which 
as Smith (1907) has shown is no longer tenable. 
