290 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



lateral line continuous, concurrent with dorsal outline; air-bladder present; 

 pyloric coeca few; intestinal canal short; dorsal fin usually continuous, sometimes 

 divided into 2 separate parts, the spines 10 to 12; anal similar to soft dorsal, the 

 spines 3; caudal margin more or less concave; pectorals well developed; ventrals 

 thoracic, the rays i,5, a scaly appendage at base. All the species make a grunt- 

 ing noise by means of the air-bladder, whence the names grunt, pig-fish, and 

 hog-fish, by which these fish are commonly known. There are about 15 Amer- 

 ican genera, of which 3 are represented on the North Carolina coast by a single 

 representative each. 



Key to the North Carolina genera of grunts. 



i. Anal fin long, the rays in, 10 to iii,13; mouth small, its inside not scarlet; vertical soft fins 



either naked or scaled only at base Orthopristis. 



u. Anal fin shorter, the rays iii,7 or iii,8; mouth large, its inside scarlet; vertical soft fins 

 densely scaled from base to margin. 

 a. Dorsal spines 12; 10 to 14 gill-rakers on lower limb of first arch; second anal spine 



much longer than third H^emulon. 



aa. Dorsal spines 13; 12 to 18 gill-rakers on lower limb of first arch; second anal spine 

 scarcely longer than third Bathystoma. 



Genus ORTHOPRISTIS Girard. Pig-fishes. 



Rather small fishes with oblong, compressed body, elevated back, com- 

 pressed head, small mouth, teeth in bands in jaws, rather small scales, single 

 dorsal fin with a shght notch, 12 or 13 slender dorsal spines, 15 or 16 short soft 

 rays, rather long anal fin with 3 small spines and 10 to 13 soft rays, and naked 

 or partly scaled vertical fins. About half a dozen known species from Atlantic 

 and Pacific coasts of America. {Qriho'pristis, straight saw, in allusion to the 

 evenly serrated preopercle.) 



255. ORTHOPRISTIS CHRYSOPTERUS (Linnaeus). 

 "Pig-fish"; "Hog-fish"; Sailor's Choice (S.C.). 



Perca chrysoptera Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, ed. xii, 485, 1766; Charleston. 



Orthopristis julvomaculatus, Yarrow, 1877, 211; Beaufort. Jordan & Gilbert, 1879, 379; Beaufort. 



Orthopristis chrysoplerus, Jordan, 1886, 27; Beaufort. Jenkins, 1887, 90; Beaufort. Jordan & Evermann. 



1898, 1338, pi. ccx, fig. 541. Wilson, 1900, 355; Beaufort. Linton, 1905, 376; Beaufort. 

 Pomadasys fulvomaculatus, Goode, 1884, 398; Beaufort. Earll, 1887, 493; banks off Wilmington. 



Diagnosis. — Form ovate, compressed, the back strongly arched, depth 4 length; head 

 contained 3 times in length; mouth small, low, with a narrow band of slender teeth in each 

 jaw; maxillary short, a little more than half length of head; vertical limb of preopercle straight 

 and nearly entire: gill-rakers short, 7 + 12 on first arch; scales in lateral series 60, in transverse 

 series 10 + 20, those above lateral line in oblique rows, those below in horizontal rows; top of 

 head, opercles, and cheeks scaled; snout and jaws naked; a scaly sheath at base of dorsal and 

 anal spines; dorsal fin continuous, with scarcely any notch separating the two parts, the rays 

 xii,16 or XIII, 16, longest spines (third and fourth) .4 length of head, longest rays shorter than 

 longest spines; anal rays in, 12 or iii,13, the length of rays similar to those in soft dorsal; caudal 

 forked, upper lobe longer; pectorals pointed, .8 leneth of head; ventrals .66 length of head. 

 Color: dull light blue, becoming silvery below ; edges of scales orange-brown, this color forming 

 narrow stripes wliich are oblique above lateral line and horizontal below; snout and part of 

 upper lip sky-blue; various bronze spots on snout and side of head; inside of mouth pale; dorsal 

 clear, with bronze spots; anal whitish, with bronze base and dusky edge; caudal yellow, with 

 dusky margin; other fins yellow; peritoneum black, (chrysopierus golden-finned.) 



