412 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



luive been caught. Tlic smaller fish are quite choice, but large ones are too coarse arid tough to 

 be salable. 



There is another h'sh which is also called "Jew fish," or "Warsaw," and "Black Grouper," of 

 which only enormously large specimens have been obtained, and which is entered upon our cata- 

 logues under the- name L'roiiiicrojHi ijuam. It is a fair question whether this great fish be not the 

 adult of the common Black Grouper or some closely allied species, t lie appearance of which has 

 lierome somewhat changed with age. A large specimen, weighing about three hundred pounds, 

 was taken near the Saint .John's bar in March or April, 1874, by James Arnold. It was shipped by 

 Mr. Hudson, a fish-dealer in Savannah, to Mr. Blaekford, who presented, it to the Smithsonian In- 

 stimtion. A tine cast of this specimen in papier-mache graces the cast-room of the National 

 Museum. 1'rofessor I'oey, by whom this species was named, states that in Cuba it attains to the 

 weight of six hundred pounds. An old Connecticut fisherman, who was for many years engaged 

 in the Savannah market fishery, states that the Savannah 'smacks often catch Jew-fish. They are 

 so voracious that when put into the well with the Groupers they would do much damage. The 

 fishermen have therefore found it necessary to sew their jaws together before placing them with 

 other fish. 



THE SPOTTED HIND EPINEPHELUS DRUMMOND-HAYI. 



The Spotted Hind of the Gulf of Mexico, Epincphelus Drummond-Hayi, has been but recently 

 discovered, and has been observed only in the Gnlf of Mexico and at the Bermudas. It was 

 observed at the Bermudas in 1S51 by Col. H. M. Drummond-Hay, of the British army. Specimens 

 were sent to the National Museum in 1876 and 1877 by Mr. Blackford and Mr. Stearns. It is one 

 of the many important species which have been brought to notice by the labors of the United 

 States Fish Commission. Although it is an excellent food-fish, it is even now not well appreciated. 



Mr. Stearns records the following facts concerning its habits: "The Spotted Hind is common 

 in company with the Grouper and the Jew-fish, and is most abundant in South Florida about tin- 

 reefs. Off Pensacola it lives in the deep fishing grounds, in seventeen, nineteen, and twenty-two 

 faihoms. It swims close to the bottom, and is of sluggish movements. I. have not known of its 

 occurrence in the bays, and believe that it spawns at sea. Specimens weighing fifty pounds have 

 been caught, but that is fully four times the average size. It is seen daily in the Key West 

 market and sells readily, but at Pensacola, Mobile, and New Orleans it is hardly marketable. Its 

 color varies very considerably with the different colored bottoms on which it lives." 



The Coney, Epinephelus upua, of Key West, the Hind of Bermuda, is an important; food- 

 lisli which occurs throughout the West Indies. Specimens have been sent by Mr. Stearns, who 

 recorded that it is common in South Florida among the reefs, and is often seen in the Key West 

 market, where' it is readily sold. 



Tiuo BANDED GROUPER EPINEPHULTJS STRIATUS AND OTHERS. 



The common Grouper of Bermuda., Epinephclm striatvs, one of the most important food-fishes 

 of those islands, is sure to he found in the vicinity of Key West, and will probably prove to be, 

 one of the important lishes of our own southern coasts. About Key West and in the Gulf there 

 are several species of the sub-genus Mi/ctcroperca, which may be grouped together under the name 

 "Rock-fish," the name by which all fishes of this genus are also known in Bermuda. They are 

 large fishes of excellent food quality, similar in habits to the others of the family which have 

 a I ready been discussed. The material at present on hand is not sufficient to admit of satisfactory 

 identification of all the species. The "Black Grouper" of IVnsacola, which has been variously 



