SEA-BASS AND OTHER FISHES. 3 I 5 



ular yellow spots; dorsal and pectoral fins red; ventrals and 

 anal lighter. Body oblong elliptical, moderately compressed, 

 not elevated. Mouth moderate, without distinct canines. 

 Tongue with a large oval patch of teeth, besides which are 

 five or six smaller patches. Nostrils round, near together. 

 Preopercle finely serrate, its notch obsolete. Gill-rakers very 

 long and slender. Dorsal spines rather slender; second anal 

 spine a little longer than the third; caudal fin lunate, its lobes 

 not attenuate. Head 3j4 ; depth 3. D. XII, 11; A. Ill,; 

 Lat. I, 54. L. one foot. West Indies, north to Florida and 

 S. Carolina." 



sheep's-heads, groupers, and mangrove snappers. 



" There where the affluent current pours 

 The deepest o'er its muddy floors, 

 The greedy sheep's-head hidden lie, 

 To seize whatever may float, by." 



Isaac McLellan, "Poems of the Rod and Gun." 



At breakfast: the next morning we met with a new-comer, 

 Dr. Williams, a professor in a Western College, a tall slender 

 man of some thirty years old, with dark complexion, hair, 

 and eyes. He had come to Florida for health and sport, 

 and also to make collections in natural history. "What fish 

 are these?" h inquired of our host. 



"That is Channel Bass you have on your plate. The 

 judge, here, caught it yesterday, a fine, fat fish." 



Judge: "Let me recommend a squeeze of this lemon on 

 the fish, doctor; the fish and the sauce are both natives." 



Professor: "An improvement, certainly. How large was 

 this fish?" 



Host: "Twenty-five pounds, or so." 



Professor: "Did you catch it with the rod I saw on the 

 piazza, judge?" 



"The same." 



Professor: "Well, I want to try this fishing that I hear so 

 much about, but I fear that my tackle will not answer; my 

 rod never killed a fish over two pounds." 



Host: "Perhaps you had better begin with a hand-line; I 

 can fit you out." 



