55 



LUTJANUS AYA, {Block) Gill. 

 Yelting; Glass-eyed Snapper. 

 Acara aya, Marcgrave, Hist. &c. Brasil, 1648, 167. 

 Bodianus aya, Bloch Ichth. 1797, 33, tab. ccxxvii (on a figure by Prince Maurice). — 



LacepJide, Hist. Nat. Poiss. iv, 1803, 286. 

 Mesoprion aya, Cuv. & Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss. ii, 1829, 457. — ? Guichenot, Sagra's Hist. 



Nat. Cuba, Poiss. 1845, 24.— Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. i, 1861, 198. 

 Lufjanus aya, GiLt,, MS. 

 Bodianus ruber, Schneider, Bloch, Syst. Nat. ed. 1801, 330. 



Common. It probably breeds, as individuals of all ages occur ; the 

 largest weigh ten j)ounds or more, and are much esteemed as food. Its 

 abrupt profile and large eyes give it a very sparoid appearance; to the 

 latter feature it no doubt owes one of its popular names, a similar epi- 

 thet being applied to the large-eyed SUzostedium americanum, the Wall- 

 eyed or Glass-eyed Pike of the great lakes and the Mississippi Valley. 

 The name "Yelting" is very puzzling. 



Color. — Brilliant rose-red, fading in spirits to grayish-olive, with black 

 blotch along the base of the soft dorsal ; base of pectoral deep black.* 



The species is peculiarly West Indian. Large specimens are some- 

 times brought in winter to the Washington market, in lots from Florida. 



The Schoolmaster Snapper and Silk Snapper of the fishermen prob- 

 ably belong to this genus. The Spot Snapper and the Yellow-tail cor- 

 respond doubtless to Mesoprion uninotatus (Cuv. & Val.) Gill, and to 

 Ocyurus chrysurus (Bl.) Gill. Lutjanus cynodon (Cuv.) Gill probably also 

 occurs. All these species are peculiarly West Indian. 



SEERANID^. 



TEISOTROPIS UNDULOSUS, {Cuvier) Gill. 



ROCK-FISH. 



Ferca marina venenosa punctata (Eock-fish), Catesby, Nat. Hist. Carolina, Florida, and 

 Bahamas, ii, 1743, 15, tab. xv.— Cuv. & Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss. ii, 1829, 386. 



Serraniis undulosus, Cuv. «fe Val., op. cit. 295.— Gunther, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. i, 1861, 

 143. 



Trisotropis undulosus, Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1865, 105. 



Serranus irunneus, Poey, Mem. Hist. Nat. Cuba ii, 1860, 1314. 



* Dr. Gunther, in the " Synopsis of the Species", which serves as a key to the genus 

 places this and the preceding species under the head " aa. Ground-color olive, with a 

 yelloio, green, or hrown shade." This is certainly very apt to mislead, and illustrates the 

 difiQculty of drawing correct ideas from the study of distorted and dibcolored museum- 

 Bpecimens. 



