The Rabirubias 



GENUS OCYURUS GILL 



The Rabirubias 



This genus is allied to Lutianus, from which it differs notably 

 in the structure of the skull, especially in the forward extension of the 

 fronto-occipital crest. The single species shows numerous minor pe- 

 culiarities, as in the form of the body, the large, well-forked tail, the 

 small head, the increased number of gill-rakers, and the presence of 

 pterygoid teeth. 



The single species of this genus is the yellowtail or rabirubia, O. 

 chrysurus. The yellowtail is found from southern Florida to Brazil, 

 and is generally abundant. It is known from Biscayne Bay, Key 

 West, and nearly all the West Indies. At Key West, where it is 

 known as yellowtail and rabirubia, it is even more abundant than 

 the lane snapper, and is the principal fish served at the hotels and 

 boarding-houses in the fall. It is said to be plentiful throughout the 

 year except during the winter, when cold weather drives them to deep 

 water. During the warmer weather they are found at a depth of 2 

 fathoms or more, usually in about 5 fathoms, and generally about 

 shoals where there is some mud bottom. The spawning-time is said 

 to be in July, when they are found about the reefs from Miami to the 

 Tortugas. 



In Porto Rico it is called Colombia, and is an abundant and impor- 

 tant food-fish. It attains a length of 2 feet and a weight of several 

 pounds. At Key West the average weight is not more than a 

 pound. 



As a game-fish it is not without merit, it being a ready biter and 

 a vigorous fighter. The commercial fishermen catch it with hook and 

 line, using sardines for bait. At Key West it is hawked about the 

 streets in the early morning, and just at the hour when one most 

 desires to sleep, his slumbers are broken by the monotonous cry, 

 " Yallertail rabirubia! Yallertail rabirubia!" first faint and distant, 

 then growing stronger and stronger, passing under your window a 

 distracting yell, and then gradually dying away as the peripatetic ven- 

 der of the luscious " yallertail " vanishes down the street. 



Colour in life, olivaceous above, rather pale and somewhat violet- 

 tinged; a number of large, irregular deep yellow blotches on side of 

 back; a deep yellow stripe from tip of snout straight through eye to 

 caudal peduncle, there broadening and including all of tail above lateral 



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