204 
AMERICAN FISHES. 
Linnaeus classed the Pompano with the stickleback on account of the 
sharp spines on its dorsal fin. The young,like that of the swordfish, have 
along the posterior edges of the opercular bones, rows of strong spike-like 
spines, which entirely disappear with advancing age. 
The spawning grounds and breeding times of these fishes are not well 
known. Mr. Samuel C. Clarke states that the common Pompano spawns 
in March, in the open sea, near the inlet to Indian River, Fla. Mr. 
Stearns’ statement concerning the occurrence of the young about Pensa¬ 
cola has already been quoted. It is supposed that those visiting our 
northern coast breed in winter, at a distance from the shore, the eggs, like 
those of the mackerel, being lighter than the water and floating at or near 
the surface. The Pompanoes may, however, be truly migratory fishes, 
seeking the waters near the equator in winter, to follow a long coastwise 
migration, north and south in summer. They are rapid, powerful 
swimmers. 
Their food consists of mollusks, the softer kinds of crustaceans, and 
probably the young of other fishes. S. C. Clarke states that they have 
been known to bite at a clam bait. Scott remarks : “ It is mullet¬ 
mouthed; never takes a bait except by mistake.” Their teeth are very 
small and are apt to disappear with age. 
They are caught in set nets and Spanish cast-nets. Great quantities are 
secured in the Gulf of Mexico and in Mobile Bay. A few are taken every 
year in the traps on the New Jersey coast. The local demand for them is 
so great that they are not usually sent far away from the place where they 
are taken. In New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah, Charleston, or New York, 
they readily command the price of $i to $1.50 a pound. The entire 
quantity sold annually in New York probably does not exceed three 
thousand pounds. 
Pompano means “ grape leaf,” and in Western Europe is appropriated 
by a very different fish. This name was applied to our fish by the Spanish 
colonists of America. The Cubans call the Pompano “ Palometa. ” In 
South Carolina it is known as the “ Crevalle ” or “ Cavally,” a corruption 
of Caballa , (horse). La Roche, in his “Voyage to Canada,” published 
in 1542, wrote of “ salmons, mullets, sturgeons, surmullets, bass, carps, 
pimperneaux , and other fresh water fish.” This is the earliest use of this 
name for an American fish ; the writer cannot have been acquainted with 
what we now call Pompano, but it is impossible to understand his meaning. 
