Mycteroperca 



eyes and angle of mouth yellowish; ventrals dusky, the outer portion 

 bluish black; pectoral with a whitish edge. 



M. plienax, the scamp of Key West and elsewhere in southern 

 Florida, may be told from the preceding by having its upper canines 

 nearly vertical instead of directed forward, and by the different colour- 

 ation, which is much brighter, being pinkish gray above, paler purplish 

 below; upper parts and opercles thickly covered with small, rounded, 

 irregular spots of dark brown; sides with larger and fainter brown 

 blotches, more or less horizontally oblong and somewhat reticulate; spi- 

 nous dorsal brownish ; soft dorsal darker, faintly spotted, edged with 

 dusky and with a narrow rim of whitish anteriorly; caudal brownish, 

 spotted with darker, its outer rays blackish distally and edged with 

 whitish; pectoral plain, dusky toward the tip, edged with whitish; ven- 

 trals pale, tipped with dusky; mouth pale, scarcely greenish. The scamp 

 reaches a length of 2 feet and a weight of 12 pounds or more, though 

 those seen at Key West do not usually exceed 2 or 3 pounds. It is a hand- 

 some, trim-looking fish, taking the hook readily and making a good fight. 



M. venadonnn, the garlopa (garrupa) of the Mazatlan fishermen, 

 is a very large species thus far known only from that place. The type 

 specimen, the skin of which is in the British Museum, weighed 75 

 pounds, and examples of twice that size have been seen. It is not 

 abundant, but is an important food-fish. 



M. bowersi is known only from Culebra Island east of Porto Rico, 

 where it is called rock-hind or rockfish by the Tortola fishermen, and 

 mero cabrilla by the Spaniards. It is a beautiful fish, reaching a length 

 of at least 2 feet, and is a fine food-fish. 



Colour in life, dark reddish brown, with many small, round, blood- 

 red spots on body, head, lower jaw, and base of pectoral and anal fins, 

 especially numerous on anal; a few on spinous dorsal; soft dorsal 

 mottled with white and black, with a very narrow white edge inside 

 of which is a broad black band; tip of caudal narrowly white, inside 

 of which is a broad black band, rest of fin mottled and spotted with 

 white and black similar to soft dorsal; anal similar to soft dorsal but 

 with more red spots; inside of mouth pale red. 



M. call in ra is a rare species known only from the coast of Cuba. 

 It reaches 2\ feet in length. It seems to resemble M. bowersi, but dif- 

 fers notably in colour. 



M. tigris, the bonaci gato, is found among the West Indies and 

 north to Bermuda. It reaches 2 feet in length and, though not com- 

 mon anywhere, is a good food-fish. 



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