SOUTHERN COAST FISHES. 399 



the year, though never abundant ; not esteemed as food. Spawns 

 ,n April, in bays and inlets. 



Black Grunt. — Hamulon arcuatum* Cuv. and Val. 



Body umber brown above, paler on the sides ; head dusky, 

 marked with horizontal lines of ultramarine blue ; length ten 

 inches. Lives in deepest waters, and feeds on shell fish and 

 smaller fish. Spawns in April. 



HoGFisH ; speckled red mouth ; sailor's choice.— Z.<j^(&« rkomboides.—GVA. 



One of the best Southern food fishes, and is angled for from 

 boats by still baiting with shedder or soft-shell crab. It is excel- 

 lent when boiled or stuffed and baked. It should be skinned with 

 a sharp knife, as its scales are very tenacious. Body above pale 

 brown, belly silvery ; sides marked with numerous orange-colored 

 spots — those above the lateral line in oblique rows, those below it 

 in horizontal rows ; fins yellowish marked in same way ; sides of 

 the head pale blue, with yellow spots. This fish appears in April, 

 and continues until November. It is very common in Bwmuda and 

 is caught as far north as Chesapeake Bay. There are four other 

 varieties of Grunts : the Hamulon formosum ; the H. quadriline- 

 atum, or striped grunt ; Anisotremus virginicus ; and Lutjanus 

 caxis, the yelting, or glass-eyed snapper. 



SERRANID^E. 



Black Fish, or Ska Bass, Black will. — Ceniropristes atrarius. Barn. (Eastern 

 shore of Virginia.) 



The males of this fish are bluish-black on the upper part of the 

 body, and lighter below ; females a dingy brown. Their fins are 

 very large. They grow to several pounds in weight. Takes bait 

 voraciously. It abounds in shallow as well as deep waters. Taken 

 from the whar\'es by rod and hand line, with clams, crabs, shrimp, 

 etc. [See " Sea Bass," in Northern Coast Fishes.] 



Black Grouper. — Epinephelus nigriius. Gill. 



Commonly known on the Florida coast as the " grouper; " it is 

 n perch also, and is of the very best quality on the table, being 



