The Channel Fishes 325 



ceans, and other marine invertebrates that abound 

 on the coraUine reefs. They spawn late in the 

 summer, on the rocky shoals and hard, sandy bars, 

 congregating at such times in large schools. As 

 a food-fish it is held in greater esteem than any 

 other fish in the Key West market, and selling 

 from a nickel to a dime for a bunch of about half a 

 dozen, it forms the staple breakfast dish of all 

 Key Westers, who are inordinately fond of it. 



While assistant chief of the fisheries depart- 

 ment of the World's Columbian Exposition at 

 Chicago, in 1893, I had among other visitors a 

 young lady friend from Key West, who never 

 before had been away from her island home, hav- 

 ing been educated at the convent of Key West. 

 She could not find words to express her delight 

 at scenes so entirely new and novel, and said that 

 some things gave her a better idea of heaven ; 

 but there was one thing, she said, that was lacking 

 amidst all the wonders and delights from the 

 four quarters of the globe, and without which 

 everything else paled into insignificance, — "fried 

 grunts for breakfast." I made her happy by escort- 

 ing her to the Aquarium and showing her the 

 live grunts swimming in a tank, seemingly as 

 much at home as on the coral reefs of Florida. 



