400 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 



rich and well flavored. It is shaped something like the black bass 

 of fresh water, the color an olive brown, with dark mottled lines, 

 resembling tortoise shell. At Mosquito Inlet it is taken from two 

 to eight pounds in weight with mullet bait on the bottom. The 

 grouper has a stronghold under the mangrove bushes, or in a hole 

 in the bank, to which it retreats when hooked, and being a vigor- 

 ous fish often succeeds in reaching its fortress, from which it can 

 with difficulty be dislodged, and the loss of fish and tackle is the 

 result. More hooks are lost by the grouper than by any other fish, 

 but as it affords good sport and excellent food, it is a favorite ob- 

 ject of the angler's pursuit. A bass rod and reel, with a strong 

 line and Virginia hook, with lead enough to keep the bait on the 

 bottom, is the best rig for the grouper, and, after all, the prospect 

 of getting him is uncertain. He fights so hard that you have to 

 give liim line, and if you give him too much he is sure to escape 

 into his hold. Spawns in May and June in bays and inlets. 



Red Snapper ; red grouper. — Serramis erythogaster. — Cuvier. Efinephelus 

 tnorio. Gill. 



This fish seems to be called by both names in different local- 

 ities. In east Florida it goes by the name of " snapper," and is 

 known by the large canine teeth and by its rapacious habits ; when 

 put with other fish alive in a car it proceeds to devour those small- 

 er than itself. It has large scales, with spines in the dorsal fin, 

 and has been placed by Cuvier among the perches. At Mosquito 

 Inlet they are small — from one to three pounds, but in the Indian 

 River ten or twelve pounds weight, and in the Gulf of double that 

 size. The snapper seems to be a wary fish, and requires finer 

 tackle and more careful fishing than most of the coast species. A 

 rather small hook, fine line, with nmllet bait cast from a reel, 

 using a float so as to let the line run off down the current thirty or 

 forty yards from the boat, is the most successful way to delude the 

 snapper. It bites sharply, fights hard, and is good eating, either 

 boiled or fried. Color, reddish brown on back and sides, growing 

 darker after death ; belly silvery. Spawns in May and June in bays 

 and inlets. Twelve varieties of Groupers are enumerated. 



