The Groupers 221 
snood. A large bait was necessary, as it was at 
once attacked by parrot-fishes, angel, and other 
beautiful bait destroyers, whose actions attracted 
the groupers, which darted at it and made a fine 
play, invariably poising for a second, with dor- 
sals erect with excitement, then feeling the hook, 
charged to the sounding of the reel. 
Another really beautiful grouper which can be 
commended to the angler is the hamlet, cherna 
criolla, or Nassau grouper, called by my boat- 
man the white grouper. It is Epcnephelus stria- 
tus (Bloch) of science. Its color is at times 
almost white, more properly a pale gray, but its 
normal tint is a light olive-green most beauti- 
fully barred with white or pearl-gray, while the 
head is striped horizontally, giving it a dashing 
appearance. The eye is a rich blue, and all 
together this fish is one of the most attactive of 
the tropical game fishes. I have taken it at Key 
West and all along the reef to the west, and it is 
a common fish in West Indian waters, where it 
attains a weight of fifty or seventy-five pounds. 
The large size of many of these fishes is unsus- 
pected, as the giants are not desirable for market 
and often cannot be transported. I never saw 
a black grouper, a “white grouper,” or a red 
