52 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
known from personal observation, however, that americanus is by far the most numer- 
ous and commercially the most important species in the vicinity of Beaufort. The 
other two are about equally common, but not abundant. 
The whitings are choice food fishes and generally command a good price. One or 
more species is common enough to enter into the commercial catches along the coast 
all the way from Massachusetts to Texas. The States having the largest catches in 
1929 are the following: 6 New Jersey, 52,408 pounds; Virginia, 54,650; North Carolina, 
387,168; South Carolina, 100,754; Georgia 51,500; Florida, 664,943; and Louisiana, 
41,829 pounds. 
It is evident from the foregoing records that the whitings are important food 
fishes over a wide range of the eastern and southern shores of the United States. 
The writers are pleased, therefore, to offer some new information in regard to the 
life histories of these useful fishes. 
No young under 9 or 10 millimeters in length have been recognized either as 
■saxatilis or littoralis. Since the local species of the genus are readily distinguishable 
at the size mentioned, as pointed out in the descriptions of the young, it is improbable 
that the smaller specimens (unless it be the very smallest ones) consist of more than 
one species, and all seem referable to americanus. 
The three local species apparently all spawn simultaneously at Beaufort, the 
reproductive period occurring in the spring and early summer. A rapid rate of growth 
is indicated during the first several months of life. The habitat of the smaller young, 
ranging from about 10 to 60 millimeters in length, appears to be identical in saxatilis 
and littoralis, as these fish were taken only in the surf along the outer shores of the 
“banks”, while americanus occurs further off shore and also in the inside protected 
waters. The adults of americanus and saxatilis are found both in the inside and 
outside waters, while littoralis evidently is confined almost entirely to the outside 
open waters. 
CHARACTERS OF THE ADULTS 
The body is long and rather low in the three species under consideration. The 
back is notably narrower than the abdomen, and much more strongly curved than the 
ventral outline. The head is low, and the conical snout projects well beyond the 
horizontal mouth. A short, thick barbel is present at the chin. The number of 
vertebrae is about the same in each species. In one specimen of each species counted, 
americanus and littoralis each had 10 body and 15 caudal vertebrae, and saxatilis 
had 10 body and 16 caudal vertebrae. The pupil of the eye is large and nearly or 
quite round in americanus at all ages, while it is smaller and vertically quite elongate 
in the young of about 6 inches and less in length of saxatilis and littoralis. In large 
preserved specimens of the last-mentioned species the pupil does not always appear 
elongate. Dorsal with 10 or 11 spines; anal with 1 weak spine. The chief diagnostic 
characters of the adults are included in the following key. 
KEY TO THE SPECIES 
a. Scales on chest not especially smaller than on sides; pectoral fins long, reaching to or past tips 
of the ventrals. 
b. Sides plain or with obscure bars, not forming a V; anal usually with 7 soft rays; none of the 
dorsal spines especially produced, and none reaching far, if at all, beyond origin of second 
dorsal; scales 86 to 90, counting vertical series above lateral line americanus 
» The statistics are taken from the “ Fisheries Industries of the United States in 1930”, by R. H. Fiedler. Appendix II, Report, 
U.S. Commissioner of Fisheries, 1931 (1932), pp. 109-552, 23 figs. Washington. The fish are listed under "king whiting” or “king- 
fish.” 
