The Grouper Family 297 



inches. Its spawning habits have not been 

 studied, though it probably spawns in the spring. 

 A Hght bait-rod, similar to a black-bass rod, 

 with corresponding tackle, with hooks Nos. 2-0 

 to 3-0, on gimp snells, will answer for this fish, 

 using sardines or anchovies, which are abundant 

 along the shores, for bait. 



THE RED HIHD 



{Epinephelus guttatus) 



This beautiful grouper rivals the rock hind in 

 its gay and varied coloration. There is some 

 uncertainty about the correct specific name of 

 this well-marked species. The last name to be 

 adopted is guitatus, meaning " spotted," conferred 

 by Linnaeus in 1758, based on the early and 

 vague descriptions of Marcgrave and others on 

 specimens from Brazil and the West Indies. It 

 belongs to the West Indian fauna, its range ex- 

 tending from the Florida Keys to South Amer- 

 ica; it occasionally strays north in the summer 

 to the Carolina coast. 



It resembles the other groupers in its general 

 form, but is more slender, has a larger eye, and 

 its lower jaw does not project so much. The 

 depth of its body is a litde more than a third of its 



