332 Bass, Pike, and Perch 



fin." Its range extends from the Chesapeake Bay 

 along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts to Florida 

 and Texas, and occasionally it strays as far north 

 as Long Island. 



It resembles the grunts very much in its gen- 

 eral appearance. Its body is rather more than a 

 third of its length, elevated at the shoulder, and 

 compressed. Its head is a third of the length of 

 the body, with a long, sharp snout and a small 

 mouth placed low. There is a narrow band of 

 slender teeth in each jaw, the outer ones in the 

 upper jaw somewhat larger. The color of the 

 pig-fish is light blue above, shading gradually to 

 silvery below; the upper lip is marked with blue; 

 the body scales have a blue centre, the edges with 

 a bronze spot, forming very distinct orange-brown 

 stripes along the rows of scales on the back and 

 sides, those above the lateral line extending 

 obliquely upward and backward, those below be- 

 ing nearly horizontal ; the snout, cheeks, and 

 gill-covers have distinct bronze spots, larger than 

 those of the body ; the inside of the mouth is pale, 

 the back of the mouth somewhat golden in hue ; 

 the dorsal fin is translucent, with bronze spots or 

 shades, the edge of the fin dusky ; the other fins 

 are more or less dusky, with yellowish shades. 



