SNAPPERS AND RED-MOUTHS. 



79 



a common species." Single individuals are occasionally brought in from 

 the sea with the Red Snappers and groupers. It is caught at all depths, 

 from ten to thirty-five fathoms, and seldom exceeds eighteen inches in 

 length. As a food-fish it is equal to the Red Snapper. 



The Gray Snapper, Lutjanus caxis, is similar in form to the others, 

 but not red in color. It is called the " Gray Snapper" in South Florida, 

 and the "Black Snapper" at Pensacola ; is abundant about the Bermudas, 

 and has been found on the east coast of Florida, in tropical South 

 America, in Western Africa, and about the Bermudas, where it attains the 

 enormous size of sixty to eighty pounds, and is known as the " Gray Snap- 

 per," and also, on account of its sly, cunning habits, the "Sea Lawyer." 



Mr. Stearns writes: " It is most abundant in South Florida, living in 

 deep channels, on rocky bottoms, about old wrecks, stone-heaps, and 

 wharves ; it is considered the most cunning fish on the coast, and ex- 

 tremely difficult to catch. The young may be seen about the wharves, 

 and the breeding grounds are probably near by. Those usually observed 

 are from ten to twelve inches in length, but I think I have seen specimens 

 which would measure two feet." 



The Red-mouths or Grunts, small fishes belonging to the genus Diaba- 

 sis, are found in the inshore waters of the Southern Atlantic and Gulf States. 

 They are closely related to the Snappers, which they resemble in form, 

 and have remote affinity, with the perch, the bass, and the porgy and 

 sheepshead. Their colors are usually striking, and without exception, 

 they are distinguished by the brilliant red color of the inside of the 

 mouth and throat, from which they have sometimes been called Red- 

 mouths, or Flannel-mouths. From their habit of uttering a loud, rather 

 melodious sound when taken from the water they have acquired the name 

 of " Grunts " and " Pig-fish. ,K In some localities they are called also 

 "Squirrel-fish," in allusion to the same habit. They are, for the most 

 part, bottom feeders, preying chiefly upon crustaceans and small fish. In 

 fact, they are, in most respects, miniature counterparts of the Red Snap- 

 per. In many localities they are in high favor as food-fish. They have 

 not yet been very carefully studied, but so far as they are now understood 

 the following species are known to occur in sufficient numbers to prove of 

 commercial importance. 



The Black Grunt, Diabasis Plumieri, has a brownish body, lighter upon 

 the sides, and has the sides of the head ornamented with numerous hori- 



