•SPAROID FISHES OF AMERICA AND EUFOI'E. 475 



43. H^aiMUIiON PLUMIERI. 

 (Common Grunt; Ronco Ronco ; ^onco Arard.) 



Guabi coara hrasiUensibus Marcgrave, Hist. Bras., 1648, 163 (Brazil). 



Perca marina capite striata (the Grunt), Catesby, Hist. Carolina, etc., tab. 6, 1743 

 (Bahamas, etc.). 



Lahrits jtlumieri Lac(^p^(le, Hist. Nat. Poiss., in, 480, 1802, pi. 2, f. 2 (on a copy of 

 a drawing by Plumier, identified with this species by Cuvier). 



Diabasis jjlumieri, Jordan & (Jilbert, Proc. U. S. N. M. 1882, 603 (Charleston); ibid., 

 Syn. Fish. N. A., 1883, 971; Beau, Cat. Fish. Exh. London, 1883, 58 (Key 

 West). 



Hcemulon plumieri, Jordan, Proc. U. S. N. M. 1884, 126 (Key West) ; Jordan & Swain, 

 I.e., 303; Jordan,!, c, 1889, 648 (St. Lucia) ; Jordan, I. c, 1890, 319 (Bahia). 



Hcemulon formositm Cuvier, Rfegue Animal, 1829; Cuv. & Val., V, 1830, 230 (Marti- 

 nique); Giinther, i, 305, 1859 (Pernambuco, Jamaica); I)e Kay, New York 

 Fauna, 1842, 86 (1?New York); Cope, Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. 1871, 470 (St. 

 Croix, New Providence) (not Perca formona L.). 



Hcemylum formosnm, Putnam, Bull. M. C. Z., 1863, 12 (uame only). 



Diabasis formosus, Jordan «fc Gilbert, Proc. U. S. N. M. 1882, 276(Pensacola) ; Jordan 

 & Gilbert, Synopsis Fishes N. A., 553. 



Hcemulon arcuatum Cuv. & Val., ix, 481, 1833 (Charleston) ; Holbrook, Ichth. S. Car., 

 1860, 124, pi. XVII (Charleston) ; Goode, Proc. U. S. N. M. 1879, 113 (St. Au- 

 gustine; nodescr.); Bean & Drosel, Proc. U. S; N. M. 1884, 158 (Jamaica). 



Hcemulon arard Poey, Memorias, ii, 1860, 177 (Cuba); Poey, Synopsis, 1868, 318; 

 Poey, Euumeratio, 1875, 45. 



Hauni/him arard, Putnam, Bull. M. C. Z., 1863, 12 (name only). 



Ho'mulon subarvuatum Poey, Memorias, ii, 1860, 419 (Cuba); Poey, Synopsis, 1868, 

 318; Poey, Euumeratio, 1875, 45. 



Habitat : West Indies ; Carolina to Brazil. 



Etymology : For Father Plumier, an early naturalist who sent draw- 

 ings of the fishes of Martinique to the museums of Europe. 



This species is the " grunt " par excellence of our South Atlantic 

 coast. It is not rare in West Florida and on the Carolina coast, while 

 at Key West it is the most abundant food-fish, the amount taken dur- 

 ing the year exceeding' tliat of all other shore species combined. At 

 HavanUi it is i)roi)ortionally less common, though still the most abuud- 

 ant of its g'enus. It does not usually exceed a foot iu length, although 

 individuals 18 inches long are sometimes taken. These large grunts 

 have the back and nape more elevated and correspond to Cuvier's H. 

 arcuatum. This species was well represented by Catesby, but Liumieus 

 has referred Catesby's figures to the synonymy of his Perca formosa, 

 which is a Biiylectrum. From this mistake it has come that the name 

 /orwosf^w has been transferred from Diplectrumformosum to ffwrnulon. 

 This is inadmissible. The oldest name actually given this species is 

 Lahrus plumieri Lacei)ede; this name is based on a rough copy of a 

 d ra wing by Plumier. Cuvier, Avho had examined this drawing, referred 

 it to the present si^ecies, so there seems no doubt that the mime plumieri 

 belongs here. Poey's H. suharcuatum seems to be a color variety of Ids 

 if. arard, which is the ordinary plumieri. Specimens are in the Museum 

 at Cambridge from Tortugas, Havana, Jerdmie, Hayti, St. Tliomas, 

 Maranhao, Bahia, Rio Janeiro, and Rio Grande do Norte. 



