120 GIANT FISHES 



has 8 to 12 spines and 12 to 21 soft-rays ; the spinous part of 

 the fin is as long as, or longer, than the soft portion. The 

 anal fin is short, with 3 spines and 7 to 12 soft-rays. The 

 hinder edge of the caudal fin is rounded, square-cut or concave. 

 The pectoral fins are rounded, and the pelvics are situated 

 below the bases of the pectorals. The coloration varies 

 enormously in the different species, but nearly all the giant 

 forms are uniformly olive, grey, brown or black when full-grown 



The largest species (E. lanceolatus) is said to grow to a 

 length of 12 feet, and several others attain to a length of 5 or 

 6 feet, and a weight of at least 400 or 500 lb. 



More than 100 species are known from tropical and sub- 

 tropical seas, but only a few of these grow to a large size. 

 Of the giant Groupers, the following are perhaps the best 

 known : the Black Grouper or Black " Jew-fish " (E. nigritus), 

 from the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, 

 ranging southwards to Brazil ; the Guasa, Spotted " Jew- 

 fish " or Mero (E. guttatus), from both coasts of tropical 

 America, ranging northwards to Florida and the Gulf of 

 California and southwards to Brazil and Panama ; the Varie- 

 gated Rock Cod or Malabar Grouper (E. tauvina), found from 

 East Africa through the Indian Ocean and Archipelago to 

 Australia and the islands of the Pacific ; and the Indian 

 Grouper or " Jew-fish " (E. lanceolatus), with a similar distri- 

 bution. One species of fair size, the Giant Perch or Dusky 

 Perch {E. gigas), is an occasional visitor to the southern coasts 

 of the British Isles. 



These fishes abound in most warm seas, but there is Tittle 

 to be said concerning their mode of life. They are all voracious, 

 carnivorous fishes, preferring other fishes and crustaceans, but 

 also eating shellfish, cuttlefishes and other marine creatures. 

 The huge Spotted Grouper is not infrequently found with 

 curious hard, irregular blackish lumps, lying free in the body- 

 cavity or bound by tissue to the viscera. On examination 

 one of these lumps was found to contain the mummified body 

 of a Sharp-tailed Eel, and it is believed that the eel must 

 have been swallowed by the Grouper and in its death paroxysms 

 plunged its sharp tail through the wall of the stomach or some 

 other part of the digestive tract, and thus found its way into 

 the body-cavity. Similar cases of the supposed penetration 



