I02 AMERICAN FISHES. 



Scaena ocellata is greatly in need of a good English name. Other 

 forms more widely distributed or better known seem to have substantial 

 claims of priority upon all its appellations. In the Chesapeake and south 

 to below Cape Hatteras it is known as the "Drum;" but, Pogonias 

 cJiro)iiis, is called by the same name from Provincetown to Texas, and is 

 the possessor of a much more musical organ. Some of the old writers 

 coined names for it like "Beardless Drum" and "Branded Drum," 

 referring to the brand-like spots upon the tail ; but these are of no value 

 for common use. In the Carolinas, Florida and the Gulf we meet with 

 the names " Bass," and its variations, " Red Bass," " Sea Bass," " Reef" 

 Bass," " Spotted Bass " and "Channel Bass." Many persons suppose 

 " Channel Bass" to be a characteristic name, but this is a mistake, for 

 the term is applied properly only to large individuals which are taken 

 alone or in pairs in the channels of streams and sounds ; wherever this 

 name is used, the smaller fish of the species are called simply " Bass " or 

 " School Bass ;" even if the word " bass " could be so qualified as to be 

 applicable to the species, there is an insuperable objection to its use for 

 any fish of this family. 



" Spot " sometimes corrupted to " Spud " is another name erroneously 

 applied to this fish, and which is the property of a much smaller species of 

 the same family, otherwise known as "Lafayette" or "Cape May 

 Goody." 



Finally, we have the " Red Fish " and " Red Horse " of Florida and 

 the Gulf States, the " Poisson Rouge" of the Louisiana Creoles, and 

 " Pez Colorado " of the Mexicans. This is perhaps best for general use, 

 if modified to "Southern Red-fish or "Red Drum." The chief 

 objection is that the fish is not always red ; in the young there is not a 

 suggestion of this color, while in the adult it is more a tint, an evanescent, 

 metallic reflection of claret from the scales, which is often absent, and at 

 all events soon disappears after life is gone. The number of spots on the 

 tail is variable ; usually there is one or two, but sometimes as many as 

 eight or ten, and their arrangement is a matter of chance, while occasion- 

 ally they are absent. A facetious friend suggests that "Bass Drum" 

 would not be inappropriate, because of all the drum family it is " hardest 

 to beat." 



The Southern Red-fish is among the important species upon the coast 

 of the United States from the Chesapeake to the Mexican boundary. 



