So AMERICAN FISHES. 



zontal stripes of bright blue, while the posterior half of the lower lip is red. 

 It occurs as far north as Charleston, and Dr. Yarrow claims to have seen 

 it at Beaufort, North Carolina, though there is some question whether this 

 species was not mistaken for another. Holbrook records that it has been 

 observed on the Atlantic borders of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. 

 I noticed several small individuals in the markets of Saint Augustine in 

 March, 1877. Stearns mentions the Black Grunt as abundant at Key 

 "West among the reefs, and as frequently seen in the markets. It is there 

 known as the " Ronco Grande," D. albus being called the "Margate 

 Fish," and D. chromis the "Sailor's Choice." 



The Red-Mouth Grunt, Diabasis aurolineatus, is probably the " Flannel- 

 mouthed Porgy," familiar to Florida fishermen, and often taken on 

 the St. Johns bar. It has recently been found to be common in 

 Charleston in summer. This species was mentioned in Catesby's great 

 work, published in 1643, under the name of " Margate-fish." When 

 alive its color is bright silvery, but it soon becomes, when taken from the 

 water, of a dull amber-brown, with a slight brazen tint along the back 

 and sides, though the belly remains white. The upper jaw, within, is white ; 

 the palate is salmon-colored ; the lower jaw and mouth below are also 

 white in their interior third ; the posterior two-thirds, both within and 

 without, are red, and the mouth below; the tongue and fauces are of a 

 similar color. This fish occurs in Northern Brazil and throughout the 

 West Indias, and specimens are recorded from Jamaica, Trinidad, and 

 the Bahamas; it is found in the Bermudas and on our coast at least as far 

 north as Charleston. Stearns writes : "It is quite common on the Gulf 

 coast of Florida from Pensacola to Key West. It is caught with hook and 

 line, and is eaten as a pan-fish. I took an extremely large specimen 

 from the snapper ground between Cedar Keys and St. Marks in fifteen 

 fathoms of water. It is not found in the vicinity of Pensacola." Hol- 

 brook writes: "The Red-mouthed Grunt is occasionally taken in our 

 waters at all seasons of the year, but is never abundant, as seldom more 

 than a dozen or two are met with in the market at one time. It is not 

 highly esteemed for food, since its flesh lacks both firmness and flavor." 



Uhler and Lugger say that it occurs occasionally in the lower part of 

 the Chesapeake Bay, where it is not considered to possess great economi- 

 cal value. The occurrence of this species so far north needs confirmation. 



The Norfolk Hog-fish, Pomodasys fitlvomaculatus, belonging to a 



