328 Bass, Pike, and Perch 



waves and weather on the calcareous secretions 

 of coral polyps, those beautiful "flowers of the 

 sea" which are still building better than they 

 know on the outlying submerged reefs, and where 

 may be seen those tiny "toilers of the sea," 

 madrepores, astreans, maeandrinas, porites, gor- 

 gonias, etc., rivalling in beauty of form and color 

 the most charming and delicate ferns, fungi, 

 mosses, and shrubs. 



The fishes that frequent the coral reefs are very 

 handsome, both in form and coloration: silvery, 

 rosy, scarlet, brown, and golden bodies, with sky- 

 blue, bright yellow, rosy, or black stripes and 

 bands, or spotted, stellated, and mottled with all 

 the hues of the rainbow ; and with jewelled eyes 

 of scarlet, blue, yellow, or black ; fins of all colors 

 and shapes, and lips of scarlet red, blue, or silver. 



THE MARGATE-FISH 



{Hcemulon album) 



The margate-fish, or margate grunt, is the 

 largest of the family, growing to two feet or more 

 in length and eight or ten pounds in weight, 

 though usually it weighs from two to six pounds 

 as taken to market. It was noticed by Catesby 

 in his " History of the CaroHnas," in 1 742, and was 



