Margate-fish ; Margaret Grunt 



cc. Maxillary nearly or quite \ length of head, reaching centre of eye 



in adult. 

 / Back and sides with rows of round silvery spots, these forming 



streaks which follow the rows of scales steindachneri, 425 



jj. Back and sides with continuous yellow stripes which are hori- 

 zontal and do not everywhere follow the rows of scales. 



melanurum, 425 

 jjj. Back and sides of head and body with continuous blue stripes. 



sciurus, 426 



bb. Scales above lateral line anteriorly much enlarged. . .plumieri, 426 

 aa. Scales below lateral line anteriorly much enlarged. 



flavolineatum, 427 



Hcemulon sexfasciatum, the mojarra almejero, reaches a length of 

 2 feet or more. It is found on our Pacific coast from Guaymas to 

 Panama. It is not very abundant but is a good food-fish. It is the 

 Pacific coast representative of the margate-fish, from which, however, 

 it differs strikingly in colour. 



Colour, pearly gray, with 6 or 7 sharply defined dusky cross- 

 bands from back to lower part of side, fading below; cheek, opercles, 

 and anterior part of side with distinct roundish spots of brownish 

 black, largest and best defined on opercle; fins all nearly plain dusky 

 grayish. 



Margate-fish; Margaret Grunt 



Hcemulon album Cuvier & Valenciennes 



This beautiful and important fish is found from southern Florida 

 to Brazil. At Key West it is a common and valued food-fish. It 

 attains a weight of 8 or 10 pounds, the average being 4 to 6 pounds. It 

 is found chiefly in deep water, most abundantly about the reefs. It is 

 said to spawn early in summer on rock bottom, at which time it is 

 said to school. At night it comes into shallower water to feed upon 

 crabs, crawfish, and worms, which seem to be its principal food. 

 Cold is said to affect this fish very greatly, driving it away to deeper 

 or warmer water. 



The name margate-fish appears to have been derived from Mar- 

 gate, a well-known seaport and watering-place in England, from 

 which some of the " conchs " or natives of the Bahamas originally 

 came. In the Bahamas and at Key West the name is now variously 

 corrupted into margat, market, margaret, and margarite. 



422 



