are in the form of zooplankton, floating freely with the tidal current. They flow with these currents until reaching their nursery area of low salinity rivers. Once these fish grow large enough in these areas, they begin to migrate back to the saltier waters to which they were spawned. They stay in these intertidal bay zone until winter, then join the schooling fish towards deeper offshore waters. The males have the ability to perform a deep croaking sound as shown by the Chesapeake Bay field guide (Chesapeake). The reason why these fish have the capability to do this is because they are a part of the drum family. This trait is very common in species that belong to the drum family and is commonly used for mating purposes. It is believed that weakfish also use this to attract other females as stated in a study done at the University of Michigan, "There is some evidence that the male weakfish croaking sound may be used in attracting a mate and playing a role in the spawning behavior. This is because the male's sonic muscles, which are used to produce ‘drumming' and ‘croaking' sounds, increases three times its usual mass during spawning season" (Gillum). This study shows that weakfish make use of their drum sound more frequently during the mating season, suggesting that it is used as a process for males to attract females. Behavior Weakfish are schooling fish, meaning that they spend a large majority of their time swimming together either trying to evade larger predators, or trying to feed more efficiently on prey. Studies done by the university of Michigan state that these schooling patterns tend to become much tighter in signs of stress as they state, "weakfish have an acute chemosensory response mechanism. In times of stress, weakfish gather into tighter schools, this was seen in lab studies when higher temperatures were used. The weakfish under these conditions showed a 35% decrease in their distance to the other fish in the school. Also the frequency of school formation increased in response to stress" (Gillum). Weakfish school closer together when in situations of high stress in this study done by the university of Michigan. Theorizing that they use schooling as a form of protection. Economic importance Weakfish are excellent table fare; they can be used as a food source. The weakfish are recreationally fished and provide tackle shops with business.