

ON THE EAST COAST OF FLORIDA. 275 



' lady ' or bony-fish, it being almost ubiquitous on both the East and West coasts ; 

 the name ' bone-fish ' was never applied by anglers to any fish other than that of 

 Biscayne Bay, Fla. All of these three names were assigned respectively to both of 

 the above-named species in the official publications of the United States Fish 

 Commission. 



"This confusing popular nomenclature, authoritatively endorsed by scientists, led 

 me temporarily last spring to confuse the two fishes when first taken on my rod, and 

 I am glad to see that Jordan & Evermann in their latest publication, ' American 

 Food and Game Fishes,' have dropped the perplexing name of ' lady fish ' which 

 they formerly applied to Flops saurus, the fighting brother of the tarpon, leaping 

 into the air, 'dancing on its tail,' with snout and greater portion of its body in full 

 view, every action showing it to be of the same noble stock as the 'Silver King.' 



"Per contra, Albula vulpes, the true bone-fish of Biscayne Bay, never leaps, fights 

 straight away in long desperate surges, being apparently ignorant of other devices 

 of escape, and is seldom caught in deep water, in which the 'lady-fish' habitually 

 feeds. The different actions of these two fishes, when on a restraining line, indicate, 

 from an angling standpoint, no kindred of species ; in fact, the leaper is close kin 

 to the tarpon, and the surger belongs to a different family {AUndida) the lady-fishes, 

 of which but one species is known, the one here considered. 



"Again, the question of range of these. two fishes, as stated by Jordan & Ever- 

 mann, still continues to confuse the angler. The bone-fish of Biscayne Bay, accord- 

 ing to the consensus of opinion and experience among rod fishermen, has never 

 been seen, or caught, north of Indian River, Florida, albeit the ichthyologists state 

 that they range as far north as Long Island. The migrations of the 'lady-fish' 

 (Flops), so called by anglers, are confined by the same authorities to the seas south 

 of the Carolinas and the Gulf of Carolina, while one straggler, at least, roamed 

 north to the south side of Staten Island, N. Y. 



"W. C. HARRIS." 



