Cynoscion nothus. The Bastard Weakfish. Body elongate, slightly compressed; head 3-1/2; depth 3-3/4; eye 4; D. X-I, 27; A. II, 9 or 10; scales 6-60-7; mouth moderate, maxillary reaching posterior margin of pupil; snout short; body rather deep and more compressed than above species; back somewhat elevated; caudal fin weakly double concave; gill-rakers long and slender, 4 + 9.
Menticirrhus saxatilis. The Kingfish. Body elongate, but little compressed; head 4; depth 4-1/2; eye small 7; D. X-I, 26; A. I, 8; scales 7-53-9; mouth large, maxillary reaching middle of eye; spinous dorsal elevated; pectoral fins long; teeth villiform; snout long and bluntish; scales all ctenoid.
Micropogon undulatus. The Croaker. Body rather robust, the back somewhat elevated and compressed; head 3; depth 3-1/3; eye 5; D. X-I, 28; A. II, 7; scales 9-54-12; mouth rather large, maxillary reaching front of eye; profile rounded; snout convex, prominent; preopercle strongly serrate; anal under middle of soft dorsal; caudal fin double truncate; gill-rakers very short and slender, 7 + 16.
Leiostomus xanthurus. The Lafayette. Body oblong, ovate, the back compressed; head 3-1/2; depth 3; eye 3-1/2; D. X-I, 31; A. II, 12; back in front of dorsal high, convex and compressed to a sharp edge; profile steep and convex, depressed over the eyes; mouth small and inferior, maxillary reaching to below pupil; snout blunt; pharyngeals with three series of molars posteriorly; teeth in upper jaw minute, none in lower jaw in adult; gill-rakers short and slender, 8 + 22; caudal long and forked.
THE WEAKFISH
(Cynoscion regalis)
The weakfish, or squeteague, was first described by Bloch and Schneider, in 1801, from the vicinity of New York. They named it regalis, or "royal." In the Southern states it is called gray-trout and sea-trout. The name weakfish is doubtless derived from the Dutch, and is said to have originally meant a soft fish. Jacob Steendam, in a poem in "Praise of New Netherland," in 1661, has
"Weekvis, en Schol, en Carper, Bot, en Snoek,"
meaning weakfish, plaice, carp, turbot, and pike. The name squeteague is of Indian origin.
The natural habitat of the weakfish is along the Atlantic coast south of Cape Cod, occasionally straying to the Gulf of Mexico. It is most abundant between Buzzards Bay and Chesapeake Bay. It is a handsome, shapely fish, resembling somewhat the salmon in outline. It has a robust body, with a depth of about one-fourth of its length. It has a long, pointed head, nearly as long as the depth of the body. The mouth is large, with projecting lower jaw. The teeth are sharp, in narrow bands, with several fanglike canines in front of the upper jaw. The dorsal fins are but slightly separated, and the caudal fin is almost square.