82 WHERE, WHEN, AND HOW TO CATCH FISH 



up to 5 or 6 pounds ; very fair boilers, bakers, chowder, etc. 

 Large ones worthless. 



Illustration. Paere. 



76. "DIPLECTRUM FORMOSUM." 502 1207 



Squirrel-fish ; « Head 3 ; depth 3f ; D. X, 12 ; A. Ill, 7 ; scales 



Serrano ; 9 _ 80 to 90 _ 22 . pore s 54 to 60. Body elongate, the 



profile strongly arched above eyes ; mouth large, 

 lower jaw slightly projecting ; maxillary narrow, reaching middle of 

 eye, 2i in head ; canine teeth small ; eye placed high, shorter than 

 snout, about 5 in head ; preorbital broad, more than twice the width 

 of maxillary ; upper part of margin of preopercle finely serrate ; 

 preopercle with two clusters of divergent spines, the one at the angle, 

 the other higher (the two fascicles well separated in the adult, but 

 smaller and coalescent in the young); distance from opercular flap to 

 upper end of preopercle 1 y 2 in rest of head ; opercular flap short and 

 sharp ; gill rakers moderate, X 4- 14 or 15 ; top of head and preorbi- 

 tal region naked ; smooth area on top of cranium very convex ; 11 

 rows of scales on cheeks ; fins, except caudal, scaleless ; 15 scales 

 before dorsal ; dorsal spines low and slender, the first three gradu- 

 ated, the rest subequal ; caudal deeply lunate, the upper lobe the 

 longer, sometimes ending in a long filament ; anal spines very weak, 

 the third longest, 1)4 in eye; pectoral 1^ in head. Color brown- 

 ish, silvery below ; sides with 7 or 8 longitudinal blue lines, bright 

 blue above, pearly whitish below, and about as many dark cross bars, 

 the last bar forming a large black blotch at upper base of caudal ; 6 

 of these present, with another at base of dorsal ; a broken median 

 stripe before dorsal ; stripes on head bright blue ; spinous dorsal with 

 2 stripes of light blue, bordered with darker, and 3 of light orange 

 yellow ; 3 blue stripes and 4 yellow ones on soft dorsal ; caudal with 

 light-blue reticulations around light-orange spots ; ventrals and anal 

 bluish white, shaded with light yellowish ; pectoral transparent ; pos- 

 terior part of mouth tinged with yellow ; young with two broad, 

 dusky longitudinal stripes, which become interrupted with age ; 3 or 

 4 distinct blue stripes on sides and top of head ; 2 across preorbital, 

 the lower forked ; fins with narrow, wavy bars of blue and pale 

 yellow." 



"Sand Perch," local name Biscayne Bay. "Goat Fish," local 

 name West Coast. Weight up to ^ to ^ pound ; average less than 



