SERRANUS NIGRITUS. 173 



Geographical Distribution. This fish is found along the coast, from Cape 

 Hatteras to Florida; its extreme northern limit remains yet to be deter- 

 mined. 



General Remarks. The Yellow-tail of Carolina is certainly the fish for 

 which Lacepede established his genus Leiostomus, supposing it to be with- 

 out teeth. His description was taken, according to Cuvier and Valenciennes, 

 from notes and a drawing furnished him by Bosc. I have removed it from 

 the genus Leiostomus because its jaws are not smooth, but are well armed with 

 teeth; its pharyngeal teeth are not paved; its pre-opercle is not smooth, but 

 strongly serrated at its angle ; and its anal spine is of great size. 



SEREANUS * NIGRITUS. — Holbrook. 



Plate XXV. Fig. 2. 



Specific Characters. Bluish-black above, vidth a few light-coloured spots ; 

 belly obscure white, with a bluish tint. D. 10-1-15, P. 18, V. 1-5. 

 A. 3-10. C. 18. 



Synonyme. Black Grouper, Vulgo. 



Description. The form of this fish is an elongated oval ; it is thickest along 

 the median plane, and thinner at the dorsal than at the ventral outline. The 

 head is very large, and the snout rounded. The eyes are of moderate size, very 

 near the facial outline, and about two diameters of the orbit from the snout, and 

 three diameters from the spine of the opercle. The anterior nostril is the smaller ; 

 both are round, and on a line withm the orbit, and on a plane near its superior 

 third. 



• Family Percidffi. 



