The Channel Fishes 331 



scales are also much the same. The mouth is 

 smaller, but the teeth are of about the same char- 

 acter. Its color is dull pearly gray, belly grayish, 

 each scale of the body with a distinct olive-brown 

 spot, forming interrupted, oblique, and wavy 

 streaks; fins dusky. The inside of the mouth is 

 not so red as in the other grunts. There is a 

 distinct black spot on the lower edge of the 

 cheek-bone. 



THE GRAY GRUNT AND FRENCH GRUNT 



The gray grunt {Hismulon inacrostoimnn) and 

 the French grunt {Hcemiilon flavolineatum) are 

 not so common about the Florida Keys as the 

 other grunts, but grow to about the same size, and 

 are often taken with them, and with the same 

 baits and the same mode of fishing. 



THE PIG-FISH 



{Orthopristis chrysopterus) 



Another pan-fish belonging to the grunt family 

 and common to the waters of Florida, and one 

 much esteemed as a food-fish, is the pig-fish. It 

 is known as hog-fish in Chesapeake Bay, and 

 sailor's choice on the South Atlantic coast. It 

 was described by Linn^us, in 1766, from South 

 Carolina. He named it chrysopterus, or " gold 



