PROMINENT SPECIES OF THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC COASTAL WATERS 
71 
A cosmopolite of the oceans, it is found around 
the Malay Archipelago, Australia, Africa, the 
Mediterranean Sea and elsewhere, but is strangely 
missing on the Atlantic Coast of Europe and around 
Bermuda. It ranges from Maine to Texas, though 
found primarily from Long Island to the east coast 
of Florida, where it is caught from April to late 
October. It visits southern Florida waters only in 
midwinter. Traveling in great schools and attack¬ 
ing other fishes with a wantonness nowhere exceeded 
in the whole world of finny folk, Bluefish make 
Menhaden their principal food, and their abun¬ 
dance or scarcity depends largely on the annual crop 
of these Herring of the sea. 
Professor Baird once called it unparalleled in its 
destructiveness, and another authority likened it to 
an animated chopping-machine whose business is 
to cut to pieces and destroy as many fish as possible. 
More wanton than weasels, they travel in vast 
schools marking their trail with fragments of fish 
and stains of blood. 
Like a pack of wolves, they attack everything in 
their path, killing many times as much prey as 
they can eat, seemingly from the sheer fun of 
killing. 
Being of excellent flavor, the Bluefish has become 
one of America’s most important food fishes, and 
always commands a relatively high price. 
BONITO (Sarda sarda) 
{For illustration see Color Plate^ Page 7^) 
The Bonito belongs to that eminent family of 
fishes, the Mackerels. Among its cousins are the 
Common Mackerels, the Frigate Mackerels, the 
Tunnies, the Albacores and the Kingfishes. 
It lives mainly in the open sea, wddely wandering 
in vast schools and approaching land only in search 
of food or for spawning. Its summer range is from 
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Cape Sable, Florida; 
it is also found in the Gulf of Mexico. It some¬ 
times reaches a length of from 2 to 3 feet, and a 
weight of from 10 to 12 pounds; but usually does 
not exceed 6 pounds. 
The flesh of the Bonito often passes current as 
Spanish Mackerel, though it is far inferior to that 
fish in edibility. 
The late Professor Goode called the Bonito a 
marvel of beauty and strength, and asserted that it 
is one of the ocean’s fastest swimmers, being built 
on such fine stream-line proportions, and having 
such a polished-surface body that water resistance 
is brought down to negligibility. “The bonitoes,” 
said he, “in our sounds to-day may have been 
passing Cape Colony or the Land of Fire day 
before yesterday,” so fast can they glide through 
the water. 
Over 2,000,000 pounds of Bonito are taken each 
year in American Atlantic waters. 
MULI.ET (Mugil cephalus) 
{For illustration see Color Plate, page 75) 
The Striped Mullet for a long time ranking low 
in the list of food fishes, has recently become 
one of the most highly regarded, especially when 
eaten soon after being captured. No less an 
authority than the late President Harding declared 
on his_ last trip to Florida that he found it an 
exceedingly palatable fish. It is the most valuable 
food fish caught along the south Atlantic and Gulf 
coasts. 
Belonging to a family which includes the Lisita 
and the Dajao, it is quite cosmopolitan in its range, 
being found alike in the Atlantic and the Pacific, 
from Massachusetts to Brazil and from California 
to Chile. It likewise is found on the coasts of 
southern Europe and northern Africa. 
Traveling in schools, the Striped Mullet is abun¬ 
dant in salt water or brackish water areas. It 
reaches a length of 30 inches and a weight of 10 
pounds. In southern Florida fish 20 to 24 inches 
long are common, but in the northern part of its 
range it seldom exceeds 16 inches. It is not given 
to preying on other fish as are the Bluefish, for 
instance. Rather, it gets its nourishment by chew¬ 
ing mud and separating the small food particles 
therefrom. Naturally, therefore, it is a bottom 
feeder. 
SHEEPSHEAD (Archosargus probatocephalus) 
{For illustration see Color Plate, page 75) 
The Common Sheepshead has a range that sweeps 
from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Corpus Christi, 
Texas, though it does not wander as far south as 
the West Indies. Once rather common, it is now 
rare north of Cape Henry, Virginia. It is found in 
greatest abundance between North Carolina and 
Texas. - 
Unlike so many other fishes, it does not travel in 
schools, but wanders about singly or in small 
groups. Crustaceans, Mollusks and sea plants are 
its favorite food. 
The spawning season of the Sheepshead begins in 
February and lasts until May. The maximum 
weight is 30 pounds, though the average in the 
southern part of its range is from 2 to 5 pounds. 
In the Chesapeake Bay, where it is now uncommon, 
the usual size is from 5 to 15 pounds. 
The Sheepshead belongs to the Porgy family. 
Among its cousins are the Scup and the Porgies. 
It is one of the most important fish caught in 
the Gulf States, where one and a half million pounds 
are taken annually. 
KINGFISH (Menticirrhus saxatilis) 
{For illustration see Color Plate, page 76) 
The Kingfish, locally known also as the Northern 
Whiting and Sea Mink, is found from Cape Ann to 
southern Florida. It reaches its greatest abundance 
in the northern part of its range. As a food fish 
it ranks high. The name Whiting also attaches 
to the Silver Hake, the Hogfish, and many other 
species. 
This fish belongs to the Kingfish genus of the 
Croaker family {Sciaenidae), which family embraces 
the Weakfishes or Squeteagues, and Sea-drums. 
Most closely related to it are such species as the 
Carolina Whiting, of the South Atlantic, and the 
Silver Whiting, of the Gulf coast. The California 
Whiting on the Pacific coast is another of its close 
relatives. 
