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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
dently being missing) in a collection of fish made in Winyah Bay, S.C., in July (1915). 
From a collection from Fernandina, Fla., these writers determined that the fish reach 
a length of 50 to 90 millimeters by the first winter. These writers state that the 
1-year-old fish are 70 to 100 millimeters long in July and that the same year class 
reaches a length of 80 to 140 millimeters by the second winter, and they conclude 
that maturity is reached at the age of 1 year. 
BANDED DRUM (Larimus fasciatus Holbrook) 
The banded drum, also known as “bastard drum”, “bastard perch”, and “chub ”, 
ranges from Cape Cod to Texas. According to published records, it occurs only as a 
straggler from Virginia northward, and is common from Cape Hatteras southward. 
The limit of its southward range apparently has not been determined definitely. The 
species is common off Beaufort Inlet, where it is a year-round resident, and where it 
sometimes is taken in large numbers in shrimp trawls in water ranging from a few to 
several fathoms in depth. According to the records at the Fisheries laboratory at 
Beaufort, the species does not enter the harbor nor adjacent sounds. Neither has 
it appeared in collections made with seines along the outer shores of the “banks.” 
The banded drum was first recorded from North Carolina by Smith (1907, p. 
314), who reported it from “several specimens” with the notation, “It is not common 
anywhere.” However, Welsh and Breder (1923, p. 170) state “* * * although 
stragglers have been taken as far north as Woods Hole, it is not found in abundance 
north of Cape Hatteras. South of this point and on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico 
it is one of the most abundant fishes, being taken in large numbers in the trawls of 
the shrimp fishermen.” The species evidently did not appear often in the collections 
at Beaufort until the otter trawl came into use in about 1913 or 1914. We have no 
record of its capture with seines, probably because it does not frequent areas near 
Beaufort in which such nets commonly are operated. 
The banded drum does not grow large enough to be of much direct commercial 
value. Comparatively few individuals attain a length as great as 8 inches. The 
largest one seen at Beaufort was 206 millimeters (8% inches) long. The species 
probably enters into the food of other fishes to some extent, as it occupies areas fre- 
quented by such predatory species as the bluefish, weakfish, croaker, king whiting 
(“sea mullet”), and flounder. 
The banded drum is the only species of the genus occurring north of Florida. 
The adult is readily recognized by the deep compressed body (depth in standard 
length 2.6 to 2.8), the strongly oblique mouth, long dorsal fin (X-I, 24 to 27), short 
anal fin (II, 6 to 8), and by the 7 to 9 black crossbars. The skull is firm, without 
conspicuous caverns, and no barbels are present about the mouth. 
SPAWNING 
The banded drum evidently spawns throughout the summer. Young under 5 
millimeters in length were taken in July, August, September, and October, and one 
specimen 12 millimeters long was taken on May 29 (1930). This specimen, according 
to measurements made of collections, belongs to a new year class. Furthermore, the 
largest young of the 0-class taken in July, as shown elsewhere (p. 91), were as much 
as 70 millimeters long and the average length of 87 specimens measured was 34 milli- 
meters. Unless the rate of growth in this species were unusually rapid, the larger 
individuals certainly would be as much as 2 months old. It seems quite probable, 
