124 HtEMULON arcuatum. 



Syxonymes. Hcemulon arcuatum, Citv. et Vol., Hist. Nat. Poiss., torn. ix. p. 481. 

 Hemulon arcuatum, DeKay, Zool. N. Y., part iv. p. 87. 

 Hsemulon arcuatum, Storer, Synops., p. 76. 

 Black Grunt, Vulgo. 



Description. The head is very large, compressed, elevated, with the facial out- 

 line incurved, and the snout projecting and rounded ; the body is sub-oval, com- 

 pressed, nearly straight at the belly, arched at the back, and thin. The eye is 

 large, the pupil dusky, and the iris golden, mixed with grey ; it is placed one 

 diameter and a half of the orbit from the posterior border of the opercle, and two 

 and a half from the snout, and is considerably above the median plane. The nos- 

 trils are double ; the posterior and larger is sub-round, and longest in the longitu- 

 dinal direction ; the anterior is round, nearer to the orbit than to the snout, and 

 both are above the median plane of the eye, and on a line within the orbit. 



The mouth is very large, though compressed, and extending nearly to the orbits j 

 the lips are very thick and fleshy; the upper jaw is protractile, and the inter-max- 

 illary bone is of great size; the lower jaw is large, and rounded at the symphysis, 

 with three pores near the chin, of which the posterior is largest. Both jaws are 

 armed with numerous villiform teeth ; the outer row in each is much the larger ; 

 the teeth in this row are conical, pointed, and those in front are recurved. The 

 tongue is smooth, thin, rounded in front, free, movable, and short, as it does not 

 extend half the length of the lower jaw. The pharyngeal bones are armed with 

 teeth somewhat similar in form to those of the outer row of the jaws ; but 

 they are shorter, stouter, less pointed, and some have their apices much rounded, 

 especially in the lower pharyngeal bones. 



The pre-opercle is rounded at its angle, with its ascending border nearly perpen- 

 dicular, slightly emarginate at its centre, and finely serrated. The opercle is 

 narrow, rounded behind, and terminates in two obtuse, flattened points, from which 

 a short fold of skin projects backwards. The sub-opercle is large. The opercle is 

 covered with large, and the pre-opercle with small scales, which extend to the an- 

 terior inferior part of the orbit ; the head above is covered with small scales to the 



