526 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
GROWTH 
The rate of growth of the pinfish during the first several months of life, as shown 
in figure 11, is very slow, owing no doubt to the cold weather of winter. Other 
common fall- and winter-spawned fish, such as the spot and the croaker, also grow 
slowly at first (Hildebrand and Cable, 1930, pp. 426 and 443). However, in May 
when the water became warmer, and food probably became more plentiful, the 
fish began to grow rather rapidly, and this rate of growth apparently was maintained 
for several months, not slowing down again until after September. 
According to measurements taken the fish ranged from 50 to more than 100 mm 
in length when a year old. Since the average length of the usual catch of adult 
pinfish at Beaufort probably does not exceed 150 mm (6 inches) early maturity is 
probable. As some of the fast-growing fish already exceeded a length of 100 mm (4 
inches) at one year of age, it seems highly probable that the faster-growing fish spawn 
in their second year. 
ARCHGSARGUS PROEATOCEPHALUS (WALBAUM). SHEEPSHEAD 
The eggs of the sheepshead are known only from a brief account by Rathbun 
(1892, p. L1X; republished in “A Manual of Fish Culture”, 1898, pp. 224-225; and 
revised edition, 1904, pp. 226-227). They are described as transparent, buoyant, 
about one thirty-second inch (about 0.8 mm) in diameter, requiring 1,600,000 eggs to 
fill a fluid quart. The eggs hatched in about 40 hours in a water temperature of 76° 
or 77° F. Unfortunately the development of the embryo was not studied, the work 
having been carried on aboard the Fisheries steamer Fish Hawk merely with the view 
of working out practical means of propagation. Neither were the young described 
beyond stating that they are “* * * very small, but active and strong and with- 
stand considerable rough handling.” 
It is not yet possible to add anything to the foregoing meager account of the eggs. 
Nor is it possible to give a complete picture of the development of the young. We 
can give an account only of the development of the young of about 6 mm and upward 
in length. Such fish are much smaller, however, than any previously described. The 
very small size at which the young acquire the characters of the adult, as shown sub- 
sequently, is quite remarkable. 
The salt water sheepshead is of wide distribution, ranging from Cape Cod, Mass, 
(rarely to the Bay of Fundy), south to Tampico, Mexico. At Beaufort, N. C., it is a 
year-round resident, though more numerous in the summer than winter. 
The sheepshead is sought not only by commercial fishermen, but also extensively by 
anglers, as it is one of the gamest of salt-water fishes. It is a food fish of excellent flavor 
and brings a good price in the market. It attains a maximum weight of 30 pounds 
according to published reports. However, the largest one which we saw at Beaufort, 
during 10 years of intermittent angling, collecting, and observation of fishermen’s 
catches, was a female weighing 12 pounds (length not recorded). This fish was taken 
in a seine on Shackleford Banks (inside) by commercial fishermen. Fish weighing 
from 1 to 2 pounds (11 to 15 inches long) make up the principal catch of the angler 
locally, though individuals up to 5 pounds (20 inches in length) are not rare. 
CHARACTERS OF THE ADULT 
Adult sheepshead are characterized by the oblong, deep, compressed body, crossed 
by about seven black bars on a greenish-yellow background. The mouth is rather 
small, nearly horizontal, and is provided in front with incisor teeth, which are entirely 
