294 



FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



.25 length of head; vertical limb of preopercle straight, entire; gill-rakers short, about 11 + 16 

 on first arch; scales in lateral series about 50, in transverse series 7 + 13; scales above lateral 

 line in oblique rows, those below in horizontal series; top of head, opercles, and cheeks scaly; 

 dorsal fin notched, the rays xiii,14, the longest spine (fourth) .5 length of head; anal rays in,8, 

 the second spine but slightly longer than third and contained 2.6 times in head; caudal widely 

 forked, upper lobe longer; depth of caudal peduncle less than length of snout; pectorals .66 

 length of head; ventrals .8 length of pectorals. Color: generally silvery, back bluish; scales 

 with yellow edges, these spots forming longitudinal lines oblique above, horizontal below; a 

 narrow yellow stripe from a point over eye to posterior base of dorsal fin; another broader 

 yellow stripe from snout to base of caudal; a round black spot at base of caudal; head yellowish 

 above; mouth red inside; fins colorless or slightly yellow; young with a number of bronze longi- 

 tudinal stripes on sides and head, the caudal spot more distinct, (rimator, an inquirer.) 



Fig. 131. Gkunt; Tom-tate. Bathystoma rimator. 



The tom-tate or red-mouth grunt, which reaches a length of 1 foot, is 

 abundant at Charleston, South Carolina, and ranges thence through the West 

 Indies. It will doubtless prove to be common on the southern part of the North 

 Carolina coast, but as yet there are few definite records of its occurrence in this 

 state. A specimen said to have come from North Carolina was obtained by 

 Dr. S. E. Meek in the New York market (Jordan & Fesler, I.e.) some years ago. 

 Mr. Earll, in his report on the North Carolina fisheries in 1880, notes that in the 

 summer line-fishing on the "black-fish" banks off Wilmington, grunts of this 

 species are caught; and the State Museum at Raleigh contains an example 1 

 foot long obtained at Wilmington in 1884 by Mr. H. H. Brimley. One specimen 

 was collected for the Beaufort laboratory at Bird Shoal in the summer of 1902,'. 

 and in June, 1904, Mr. Barton A. Bean, of the National Museum, found the 

 young very common in the harbor. On the "black-fish" grounds lying off 

 Beaufort the steamer Fish-Hawk secured several specimens in September, 1902. 



Family SPARID^E. The Scups, Pin-fishes, and Sheepsheads. 



The members of this family are mostly small or moderate sized shore fishes 

 of temperate and tropical waters, feeding chiefly on crabs, mollusks, and small 

 fish. The family, which is closely related to the grunts (Hsemulidse), has the 



