Silk Snapper 



Colour, crimson in life, silvery below but flushed with crimson; 

 axil and base of pectoral jet-black; eye orange; dorsal crimson, its 

 edge scarlet; caudal orange-yellow, this colour extending upon the 

 caudal peduncle; last rays of soft dorsal and most of anal and ventrals 

 yellow; pectoral, base of anal, and ventral spine pinkish. 



Silk Snapper 



Lutianus vivanus (Cuvier & Valenciennes) 



This handsome snapper is found in the West Indies and is rather 

 common about Havana, where it is known as pargo de lo alto. It 

 reaches a foot or more in length and is of food-value. When fresh 

 it may always be known by the bright yellow colour of the eye, a 

 colour which does not entirely fade in spirits. 



Colour in life, bright rose, paler beloW; some narrow, undulating, 

 light golden streaks following the rows of scales above the lateral line; 

 mouth reddish within ; traces of a dark lateral spot in some specimens ; 

 dorsal rosy, pale at the base, its edge yellow; caudal rosy, dusky pos- 

 teriorly, the tip sometimes blood-red; pectoral pale yellow; ventrals 

 and anal pale rosy, the latter yellowish posteriorly. 



Red Snapper 



Lutianus aya (Bloch) 



Of all the snappers, this is by far the most important and best 

 known. It reaches a length of 2 to 3 feet and a weight of 10 to 35 

 pounds. Its range extends from Long Island to Brazil, but its centre 

 of abundance is in the Gulf of Mexico, in rather deep water on the 

 rocky banks off the west coast of Florida and the coasts of Campeche 

 and Yucatan. On the American coast it is known everywhere as the 

 red snapper. To the Spaniards it is the pargo Colorado, while in the 

 Havana market it is the pargo guachinango, or Mexican snapper, be- 

 cause it is brought to that city from the Mexican coast. It is not com- 

 mon in Cuban and Porto Rican waters, and appears to be rare off the 

 coast of Brazil. Off the east coast of Florida and the coast of Georgia 

 it is abundant. 



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