THE MULLET AND EED SNAPPER 



391 



very peculiar character, which makes them look 

 like ribs afflicted with elephantiasis. 



Mr. John T. Granger, of Washington, regards 

 the Permit, or Great Pompam/ as a game fish 

 well worthy of the attention of salt-water an- 

 glers, and believes that it will become a general 

 favorite. A struggle with a 27-pound fish, taken 

 with rod and reel at Miami, Florida, revealed to 

 Mr. Granger the game qualities of the Permit. 



The Mullet. — Throughout the sounds, and 

 bays, and half-salt rivers of the Carolinas, Flor- 

 ida, and the Gulf states, the mullets are omni- 

 present and highly prized. When better fishes 

 fail you, they can be depended upon to fill the 

 dish; and you may go far without finding a 

 more toothsome morsel than a Silver Mullet,^ 

 or White Mullet, freshly snatched from its 

 native element with a fling of the cast-net that 

 experience alone can give. If you wish to be- 

 guile the Silver King, you first catch a Mullet, 

 or buy one, for bait. 



The name of this fish brings vividly to mind 

 the balmy air and placid waters of Indian River, 

 Florida, in February; a Uttle, mangrove-clad 

 archipelago along its eastern shore; herons 

 quawking hoarsely in the green tangle, and small 

 fishes of glistening silver jumping a yard high in 

 front of a lotus-eater's boat. The Mullet leaps 

 high in the air, gleaming and dripping, from 

 pure joy in being alive amid such beautiful sur- 

 roundings; and, having attained his zenith, he 

 relaxes and falls back broadside upon the 

 water, with a startling "slap." In one ciuiet 

 evening hour afloat, you may see thirty or forty 

 Mullet leap out of water, and to some persons 

 the sight is even more welcome than the flight 

 of a bird. 



The Silvery Mullet is a very trim little fish, — 

 big-scaled, round-bodied and swift. In exter- 

 nal appearance, it is very much like a pygmy 

 tarpon, and quite as silvery. It is really a 

 small fish, averaging about 9 inches in length, 

 and as food for other fishes, and fish-eating birds, 

 it is ideal. The brown pelicans of Pehcan Island 

 delight in this fish. When Mrs. Latham play- 

 fully squeezed the neck of a big, clumsy young 

 pelican in the down, it promptly disgorged nine 

 good-sized Mullet. I have seen a darter, with 

 a neck one inch in diameter, swallow a nine- 

 inch Mullet with relish and des]3atch. 



' T. goodei - Mu'gil bra-sil-i-en' sis . 



The Mullet genus (Mugil) contains about 

 seventy species, widely distributed throughout 

 the warm waters of the world. Besides the 

 species mentioned and figured above, the Striped 

 Mullet is also abundant in the waters of our 

 southeastern coast. Both are important food 

 fishes, and are caught in great numbers for the 

 southern markets. They are taken in gill-nets 

 and cast-nets, and the largest specimens rarely 

 attain a weight of 6 pounds. 



Of all North American fishes, the Mullets are 

 fourth in commercial value. In 1897, the total 

 catch amounted to 21,402,624 pounds, which 

 sold for $.332,090. Of this, the yield to Florida 

 alone amounted to 16,700,094 pounds. 



THE BED SNAPPEE. 



THE SNAPPER FAMILY. 



Lu-ti-an'i-dae. 



The Red Snapper^ brilliantly represents a 

 large and important Family of valuable food 

 fishes, which in our waters contains about 35 

 species. Many of these fishes are handsomely 

 and showily colored, red being the commonest 

 and most conspicuous tint, with yellow tints of 

 frequent occurrence. A typical Red Snapper 

 is recognizable a hundred feet distant by the 

 clear and beautiful crimson color which com- 

 pletely suffuses it. 



The average market specimen is about 16 

 inches long, but it is stated that this species 

 ^ Lu-ti-an'us aij'a. 



