234 UNDERWATER GUIDE TO MARINE LIFE 



blues. There is usually a pattern of vertical bars. It rarely grows over half a 

 foot but does occasionally reach a foot. It is found about rocky or coral areas 

 in the West Indies. 



Three species of serranos, genus Prionodes, and three species of squirrel fish, 

 genus Di-plectriim, are known on the West Coast from the Gulf of California 

 southward. 



BLUE AND GOLD FAIRY BASS: Gramma hemichry SOS— Color Plate 3 



Size: Up to 2 to 3 inches. 



Distribution: West Indies to Florida and Bermuda. 



Identification: The long ventrals and the extremelv vivid coloration, the 

 anterior half of the fish purple, the posterior half orange-gold, are unmistakable. 



Hahits: This is one of the most beautiful of all fishes. Its very striking color 

 and lively flitting movements make it truly like a jewel. This fish was thought 

 until recently to be a rather rare fish, but this is certainly not so. The reason 

 it was so seldom seen by surface ichthyologists is simple. This fish lives 

 habitually under dark ledges and holes in reef areas. The underwater swimmer 

 finds it extremely common. It lives in an upside-down world, traveling belly 

 up very close to the undersides of ledges as it gleans small bits of invertebrate 

 food from these surfaces. Unlike the little fresh-water upside-down catfish, the 

 fairy bass can travel normally right side up, but it seems to prefer its upside- 

 down position. It is rarely seen alone. A few individuals, up to a dozen or so, 

 form small social groups. 



TRIPLETAILS: Family Lobotidae 



There is but one genus of two to three species which are found in all warm 

 seas. 



TRiPLETAiL (flasher, chobie, DUSKY PERCH ) : Lohotes surinamensis 



Size: Up to 3 feet. 



Weight: Averages 5 to 10 pounds. Up to 40 pounds or more. 



Distribution: West Indies to Europe and Africa. Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic 

 coast to the Carolinas, straggling to Cape Cod. 



Identification: The "triple tail" of the soft dorsal, caudal, and anal fins is 

 the best field mark. The head is small and short. The color varies from dark 

 brown to greenish or light yellow-brown. 



Habits: The young are often seen in sargasso weed. The adults school or are 

 solitary in water about 50 feet deep around rocks, wrecks, pilings, or reefs. 

 The habits are probably much like those of the groupers. 



Similar Sfecies: The West Coast tripletail, Lobotes pacifciis, is found from 

 Panama lo the Indo-Pacific. 



BIG-EYES OR CATALUFAS: Family Priacanthidae 



There are several quite similar species of these beautiful red fishes distributed 

 in all tropical seas around reefs. The eyes are huge and glassv, capable of re- 

 flecting a beam of light upward. The habits are like those of squirrel fishes 

 in that these fishes are largely nocturnal and carnivorous and live singly in 

 holes in reefs. They may be easily separated from squirrel fishes by the anal 



