The young are planktonic for about three weeks and then take up residence in the camouflaged safety of green sea grass beds. A mature young tautog is approximately 13 inches long, and maximum adult size is 3.1 feet. The largest recorded tautog, caught off Wachapreague, Virginia in 1987, weighed 24 pounds. A slow-growing fish, the tautog can live for more than 30 years. In older fish, the sex ratio is known to be skewed toward males, larger fish with an enlarged white chin.
Older females resemble young fish, retaining their uniform black coloring.
The Fishery Tautog are of minor commercial value, but have been a popular recreational fish. Eighty-five percent of the historical fishery has been recreational. Spear fishers target tautog, but most of the recreational catch is by anglers who bottom-fish with hook and line baited with crabs or clams. Recreational landings peaked in 1984 with 799,000 fish caught in Virginia. Since then, levels have dropped, with an average estimated recreational catch of 158,237 fish between 1990 and 1992.