THE WONDERS OF A J AX REEF 305 



groupers which hung about the deeper spots 

 among the gardens and shot through the water 

 so rapidly that they looked like a trail of smoke. 

 Among the remarkable forms was the " f our 

 eyes" {Chcetodon capisiratus), a lovely little thing 

 of blue and brown markings, having a roimd, 

 black "eye" surrounded by a white border on 

 each side of the body just in front of the tail, 

 the whole set in a smoky brown patch. There 

 were two species of angel fish (Angelichthys) 

 which are certainly angelic in their scaly robes of 

 gorgeous color. There were ' ' yellow tails, " " pork 

 fish," "porgies," "grunts," "snappers," and many 

 others, but the queen of them all and perhaps the 

 most gorgeous fish in the world was the rock 

 beauty {Holocanthus tricolor). This superb crea- 

 ture is one of the Chaetodonts or "butterfly" 

 fishes, a group well represented in Florida waters 

 and that contains a number of handsome species. 

 It attains a length of a foot, has a high body, the 

 ground color of which is jet black. The forward 

 part of the body, tail, pectoral, and hinder part 

 of the dorsal and anal fins are of a brilHant, deep 

 gold; there are markings of rich orange on the 

 dorsal and anal fins and around the gills, while 



