278 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



caudal margin concave; pectorals .5 length of head, reaching beyond ends of ventrals. Color: 

 variable; usually brownish gray above, paler below, with faint traces of darker spots; black 

 mustache; dorsal dark green, edge of soft dorsal black; caudal black with bright blue shades, 

 edge wliite; anal indigo blue with white edge; pectorals green; ventrals black, first ray 

 white-tipped, {microlepis, small scaled.) 



The gag is found on both coasts of Florida, and ranges northward on the 

 Atlantic coast as far as Beaufort, North Carolina. It reaches a weight of 50 

 pounds, and is a food-fish of considerscble value in Florida, being abundant about 

 the reefs. Dr. Yarrow's collections at Beaufort in 1871 contained a number of 

 specimens of this species now in the National Museum; they were not identified 

 at the time, however, and are not included in Yarrow's list of the fishes of Fort 

 Macon and vicinity. The species was first recognized at Beaufort by Dr. Jenkins 

 in 1885, when one specimen was obtained. Small examples have since been 

 taken in Beaufort Harbor and vicinity on a number of occasions, about 20 being 

 seined at Bird Shoal, Uncle Israel Shoal, and Newport River in July and August, 

 1902, these were from 2.75 to 8.5 inches long. In June, 1904, Mr. Barton A. 

 Bean, while collecting specimens for the National Museum, obtained the young 

 in Beaufort Harbor, but only in limited numbers. 



243. MYCTEROPERCA VENENOSA (Linnaeus). 



• Yellow-finned Grouper; Rock-fish. 



Perca venenosa Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, ed. x, 292, 1758; Bahamas. 

 Mycteroperca venenosa, Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 1173, pi. clxxxvii, fig. 491. 



Diagnosis. — Body rather stout and not greatly compressed, depth .33 length; head large, 

 blunt, .4 length of body; mouth large, maxillary extending beyond eye, nearly .5 length of 

 head; jaw teeth in narrow bands, 2 well developed canines in each jaw; eye .14 length of 

 head; interorbital space broad and flat, .2 head; scales small, mostly cycloid, about 125 in 

 lengthwise series; vertical fins rather small; dorsal rays xi,16, second and tenth the same 

 height, longest .33 head; anal rays iii,ll; caudal margin slightly concave; pectorals rounded, 

 extending beyond ventrals. Color: dark green above, bluish or pearly below; back and 

 sides reticulated and blotched with light green; body and head covered with round yellowish 

 brown spots; fins variegated, {venenosa, venemous or poisonous.) 



Known from North Carolina by 2 small specimens seined in Beaufort Harbor 

 in the summer of 1902. The species reaches a length of 3 feet, and is common in 

 southern Forida and the West Indies. 



244. MYOTEROPERCA BONAOI (Poey). 

 Black Grouper. 



Serranus bonaci Poey, Memorias sobre la Historia Natural de la Isla de Cuba, ii, 129, 1860; Cuba. 

 Mycteropecra bonaci, Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 1174, pi. clxxxvii, fig. 492 (skull) 



Diagnosis. — Form rather long, depth contained 3.25 times in total length: head contained 

 2.75 times in length; mouth large, maxillary extending beyond eye; in each jaw 2 strong canine 

 teeth directed forward; scales in lateral series 120 to 125, in transverse series about 70; gill- 

 rakers few and long, 10 to 12 on lower arm of first arch; dorsal rays xi,16 to xi,18, the spines 

 weak and slender, third and fourth longest; anal rays iii,ll or in, 12, the fin high and 

 roimded; caudal truncate; pectorals extending beyond tips of ventrals, which are short. Color: 



