Yellow Grunt; Boar Grunt 



Colour in life, pearly gray; back and side with about lo hori- 

 zontal stripes of golden yellow, narrower than the interspaces ; a dusky 

 stripe through eye from snout to behind gill-opening; a well-defined 

 black area on back and caudal fin, bounded below by an almost straight 

 line from first dorsal spine to tip of lower caudal lobe; mouth red. 



Yellow Grunt; Boar Grunt 



Hcemulon sciurus (Shaw) 



This common species is found practically everywhere from south- 

 ern Florida to Brazil. At Key West it is known as boar grunt, and 

 is very plentiful, usually in schools on rocky bottom. It is there 

 caught with hook and line, the hook baited usually with a long worm, 

 which the fishermen obtain from the stem of a tall plant growing on 

 the bars. One fisherman reports catching as many as 500 to 600 in a 

 single day. The best fishing is said to be in August, which is proba- 

 bly the spawning-time. It appears to be abundant about Porto Rico, 

 where it is called cachicata and ronco amarillo. It reaches a foot to 18 

 inches in length, and a weight of a pound or more. At all places 

 where common it is of much value as a food-fish ; and the angler who 

 visits Key West will find it interesting as a game-fish. 



Colour in life, yellowish, side with about 10 broad, brassy bands, 

 alternating with somewhat narrower pale blue bands, the fourth of 

 which runs forward across upper edge of orbit, crossing the forehead 

 and joining its fellow on opposite side; cheek and snout with similar 

 blue lines, the one on middle of cheek forking below eye and enclosing 

 an oblong area of the ground colour; spinous dorsal pale yellowish 

 olive, bordered with orange; soft dorsal rusty olivaceous, with orange 

 border; inside of mouth, except tips of jaws, blood-red. 



Common Grunt; White Grunt 



HiTiniilon plumieri (Lacepede) 



This is by far the most important of all the grunts. Its range 

 extends from Cape Hatteras and Pensacola to Brazil. It is common 

 everywhere on sandy shores, and it is par excellence the grunt of our 



426 



