North American Fishes 



II. n"he Pork Fish (Anisotremus virginicus) 

 R, W. 5HUFELDT, M. D., C. M. Z. S. 



The Pork Fish 



In the first of these brief fish sketches 

 of North American Fishes there was de- 

 scribed and figured a specimen of the 

 Yellow Grunt (Haemulon sciurus), 

 while the present article will be devoted 

 to a similar account of the Pork Fish 

 (Anisotremus virginicus) . 



This Pork Fish belongs in the same 

 family with the Yellow Grunt, that is, 

 in the family Haemulidae or Grunters, 

 which contains several other genera, 

 some of which will be described and fig- 

 ured later on in the present series. There 

 are about a dozen different species, per- 

 haps more, in the genus Anisotremus, in 

 so far as our fish fauna °"oes, while 



Anisotremus virginicus 



others occur in waters south of the 

 American limits. The Pork Fish is not 

 entitled to its specific name of virginicus, 

 given it by Linnaeus, as it is not found as 

 far north as Virginia, its range being 

 from Florida to Brazil. It is one of the 

 most abundant fishes in West Indian 

 waters, and constantly displayed for 

 sale in the fish markets of Ha; /ana, Cuba, 

 where I have frequently seen it among 

 many other interesting forms. 



The specimen shown in my cut is from 

 a photograph I made of one that lived in 

 a tank at the New York Aquarium, and 

 was kindly supplied by Dr. Chas. H. 

 Townsend, the director of that famous 



