sheepshead

Sheepshead
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Sparidae
Genus:	Archosargus
Species:	A. probatocephalus
Binomial name
Archosargus probatocephalus Walbaum, 1792

See also: California sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher) and Freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens).

The sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus, is a marine fish that grows to 30 in (760 mm), but commonly reaches 5 to 8 in. It is deep and compressed in body shape, with 5 to 6 dark bars on the side of the body over a gray background. It has sharp dorsal spines. Its diet consists of oysters, clams, and other bivalves, and barnacles, fiddler crabs, and other crustaceans.^{[citation needed]} It has a hard mouth, with several rows of stubby teeth, which help crush prey.^{[citation needed]}

Fishing

Although the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, in New York City, was named after the fish,^{[citation needed]} it is almost entirely a southern species: its range extends from the Mid-Atlantic to Texas.^{[citation needed]} As sheepshead feed on bivalves & crustaceans,^{[citation needed]} successful baits include shrimp, sand fleas (molecrabs), clams, and mussels.^{[citation needed]} Sheepshead have a knack for stealing bait, so a small hook is necessary.^{[citation needed]} Locating sheepshead in a boat is not difficult: fishermen look for rocky bottoms or places with obstructions, and they try around jetties and the pilings of bridges & piers.^{[citation needed]} The average weight of a sheepshead is 3 to 4 pounds, but some individuals reach the range of 10 to 15 pounds.^{[citation needed]}

References

• Smithsonian Marine Station http://www.sms.si.edu/IRLSpec/Archos_probat.htm
• Archosargus probatocephalus (TSN 169189). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 19 March 2006.
• "Archosargus probatocephalus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. November 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
• Sheepshead, Texas Parks and Wildlife http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/sheepshead/