The Hogfisb 131 



robalo (Centropomus), which attains a length of 

 three feet and bears some resemblance to a wall- 

 eyed pike with the lower jaw of a barracuda. It 

 is a gamy hard-fighting fish, and local sportsmen 

 go to the Rio Plata for the purpose of taking it. 

 On the Texan coast, on sandy bottom, is found 

 another species, C. undesimalis (Bloch), which at- 

 tains a length of four feet and a weight of twenty 

 or thirty pounds. I fished in vain for it in the 

 vicinity of Aransas Pass. Singularly enough, this 

 fish is rarely found on the outer Florida reef, 

 at least, I saw but one individual; but there 

 were numbers of fishes there which undoubtedly 

 were present all the time, for some reason seen 

 but once or twice, even when fishing or drifting 

 over the reef was a part of almost every day's 

 experience. It is not safe to exclude a fish from 

 a locality because it is not caught. Many of the 

 game fishes described in contemporary works are 

 underestimated as to size, for the reason that de- 

 scriptions are often made from market specimens, 

 or from specimens in alcohol, in either instance 

 large specimens not being desirable. There are 

 numbers of fishes on the outer reef from four 

 to ten pounds in weight which, if taken with light 

 rods, afford fine sport. In this class I would in- 



