Jordan and Everman n . Fishes of North A merica . 1305 



Mouth very large, the gape curved; maxillary reaching to a little beyond 

 front of eye, its length If in head; lower jaw slightly included. Teeth 

 strong, in rather broad bands, those of the outer series enlarged ; antrorse 

 teeth of posterior part of both jaws strong. Interorbital space convex, 

 4 in head; preorbital rather deep, its least breadth 6 in head; preopercle 

 finely serrate. Gill rakers small, about 12-f-15. Scales rather large, those 

 above lateral line anteriorly very much enlarged, arranged in irregular and 

 very oblique series, those below also oblique. 



Dorsal spines stout, the fourth longest, 2| in head; longest soft rays 3| 

 in head ; caudal lobes subequal, 2 in head ; longest anal rays 2 in head, 

 their tips, when depressed, about reaching tips of the last rays; second 

 anal spine longer and stronger than third, 2 in head, its tip, when 

 depressed, at least reaching middle of last ray; ventrals If in head; pec- 

 torals 14-. Color in life bluish-gray, the base of the scales above bright 

 bron/e, tinged with olive; bases of scales below lateral line also bronze, 

 this color forming very oblique stripes, running upward and backward; 

 anterior region above lateral line with 3 or 4 sky-blue stripes, ill-defined, 

 apparently continuations of stripes of head ; head golden-bronze, with 

 many narrow stripes of deep clear blue, as if painted on, these nearly 

 horizontal, except before eye, where a few curved ones cross the forehead ; 

 also these lines curve slightly upward below eye. Lips dusky; inside of 

 mouth deep orange, bordered anteriorly on the jaws by yellow; a greenish 

 bar on opercle partly concealed by the preopercle; dorsal grayish, with a 

 narrow yellow'edge on spinous portion ; caudal plain gray ; anal gray, tinged 

 with yellow ; ventrals gray, with a clear blue luster which disappears after 

 death ; pectorals gray, a dusky bar at base. There is considerable varia. 

 tion in the depth of color in this species. The young is similar to the 

 adult in color, but has traces of two lateral bands and a dusky caudal 

 spot. The color in spirits differs only in the blue becoming dusky. West 

 Indies; abundant from Cape Hatteras to Rio Janeiro on sandy shores ; here 

 described from Key West specimens. This species is the "Grunt" par 

 excellence of our South Atlantic coast. It is not rare in West Florida and 

 on the Carolina coast, while at Key West it is the most abundant food-fish, 

 the amount taken during the year exceeding that of all other shore species 

 combined. At Havana it is proportionally much less common, though still 

 the most abundant of its genus. It does not usually exceed a foot in 

 length, although individuals 18 inches long are sometimes taken. These 

 large grunts have the back and nape more elevated, and correspond to 

 Cuvier's Hwmulon arciiatum. (Named for Father Plumier, an early natural- 

 ist who sent drawings of the fishes of Martinique to the museums of Europe. ) 



Guabi coara brasiliensibus, MARCGRAVE, Hist. Brasil., 163, 1648, Brazil. 



Perca marina capite striato (the Grunt), CATESBY, Hist. Carolina, pi. 6, 1743, Bahamas, 



etc. 

 Labrus plumieri, LACEPEDE, Hist. Nat. Poiss., in, 480, pi. 2, fig. 2, 1802, Martinique; on a 



copy of a drawing by PLUMIER. 

 Hcemulon formomm, CUVIER, Regne Animal, Ed. 2, n, 175, 1829, Martinique ; GUNTHER, 



Cat., i, 305, 1859; not Perca formosa of LINNAEUS. 

 Hcemulon arcuatum, CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., ix, 481, 1833, Charleston, 



South Carolina. 



3030 5 



