324 Bass, Pike, and Perch 



concave in front of the eye. The jaws are armed 

 with bands of strong and conical teeth, the outer 

 ones largest and the rear ones curving forward. 

 Its color is bluish gray, with the bases of the 

 scales bronze, tinged with olive, forming oblique 

 stripes running upward and backward. The head 

 is golden bronze, with many bright blue stripes, 

 very distinct, a few of which extend to the shoul- 

 der. The inside of the mouth is scarlet, becom- 

 ing lighter, or yellowish, on the jaws. The dorsal 

 fin is grayish, with a yellow border on the spinous 

 portion ; the anal fin is gray tinged with yellow ; 

 the ventral fins are bluish gray ; the pectoral fins 

 are gray with a dusky bar at the base ; the caudal 

 fin is plain gray. 



The common grunt grows usually to a foot in 

 length, though more are caught under that size 

 than over. It is often called " sow grunt " by the 

 market fishermen, in contradistinction to the " boar 

 grunt," as the yellow grunt is often designated by 

 them, wrongly supposing one to be the male and 

 the other the female. While the general remarks 

 on its feeding habits, as given in the paragraph 

 relating to the family characteristics of the grunts, 

 are correct, it may be stated that they are essen- 

 tially carnivorous, devouring small fishes, crusta- 



