7 8 AMERICAN FISHES. 



The genus Lutjanus is found everywhere in tropical waters, and 

 fish resembling the Red Snapper occur everywhere throughout the West 

 Indies. There is one which is abundant on the Bahama Banks and in 

 South Florida. This is I. campechianus, Poey, perhaps also accompanied 

 by I. torridus, Cope. Two other brilliant red species occur with I. Black- 

 fordii in the Gulf of Mexico — the Pensacola Snapper, I. Stearnsit, and 

 the Mangrove Snapper, Rliomboplitcs aurorubens. On the Bermuda reefs 

 occurs a small but brilliant species, still undescribed, which I propose call- 

 ing I. autolycus. 



The Pensacola Snapper might fairly be compared with L. Black- 

 fordii, although its color is somewhat less vivid. Concerning this spe- 

 cies, Mr. Stearns, whose name it bears, writes: "It is abundant on the 

 Gulf coast, and lives in the bays all the year. In summer it is to be found 

 about stone-heaps, wharves, and old wrecks, where it obtains crustaceous 

 food in abundance. In winter it returns to the deeper places in search of 

 food, and to escape from the cold surface-water. During a cold snap in 

 1876a great many of these fish were benumbed and floated at the surface, 

 until the sun appeared and warmed them, when they revived and sought 

 the bottom. They spawn in May and June. They are very cunning, and 

 will not readily take the hook. Those commonly seen in the bays are 

 quite small, averaging ten inches in length, while those taken with the 

 Red Snappers at sea are from twenty to twenty-four inches long. It is an 

 excellent food-fish, generally thought to be superior in flavor to the Red 

 Snapper." This fish has as yet been found only on the Gulf coasts of the 

 United States, where it is known as the "Mangrove Snapper." Since 

 this name is used on the Atlantic coast for another species, and has been 

 so used since the time of Catesby, it seems desirable to designate Lutjapus 

 Stearnsiihy another name, and " Pensacola Snapper" has been suggested. 



The Mangrove Snapper, Rhomboplites aurorubens, of Charleston, called 

 at Pensacola the "Bastard Snapper," is a much more slender and ele- 

 gantly formed fish than either of the Snappers already described. Its 

 color is less vivid, being somewhat more russet, and is enlivened by the 

 presence of narrow, oblique lines, with gold and yellow upon the sides. 

 It is a swift-swimming fish, probably less given to bottom feeding, and 

 more partial to a diet of living fish. It has been found at Jamaica, and 

 as far north as Charleston, S. C. 



" In the Pensacola region," writes Stearns, "it is well-known, but not 



