Miscellaneous Fishes 389 



that locality. It is not uncommon along the 

 reefs, where I have taken it a number of times. 

 Its body is oblong, moderately compressed, its 

 depth about a third of its length, with the back 

 slightly elevated, and the ventral outline nearly 

 straight. Its mouth is small, the eye enormously 

 large, and the caudal fin deeply forked. Its 

 color is bright crimson, with a darker shade on 

 the back, and a somewhat lighter tint below, with 

 silver streaks along the sides. The fins are also 

 red, some bordered with olive; the head is red 

 above, with an oblique white bar running back 

 and down from the eye. It feeds about the reefs 

 on small fishes and marine invertebrates, and 

 grows to two feet in length, occasionally, but is 

 usually found smaller. It is a good food-fish and 

 sells at sight in the market. It is a remarkably 

 handsome and attractive fish in appearance. 



In one of Stockton's stories, John Gayther, the 

 gardener, tells of the curious and beautiful things 

 to be seen on a coral reef in the tropics, with the 

 aid of a long box with a glass in the end. His 

 description applies just as well to the vicinity of 

 the Dry Tortugas, where I have often viewed the 

 wonders of the sea-floor through a sponge-glass, 

 a wooden pail with a glass bottom : — 



