382 Bass, Pike, and Percb 



THE BERMUDA CHUB 



(JCyphosus sectatrix) 



Kyphosus sectatrix. The Bermuda Chub. Body ovate, somewhat 

 compressed; head 3f ; depth 2}; scales 10-55-16; D. XI, 12; 

 A. Ill, 1 1 ; head short, with blunt snout ; mouth small, maxil- 

 lary reaching front of eye ; each jaw with a series of narrow 

 incisors, implanted with compressed conspicuous roots poste- 

 riorly ; behind these a narrow band of villiform teeth ; fine teeth 

 on vomer, palatines, and tongue ; teeth 35 to 40 on each side ; 

 preopercle weakly serrate ; top and sides of head finely scaled ; 

 interorbital region gibbous, below which point snout is truncate ; 

 soft dorsal and anal very low ; second anal spine highest ; caudal 

 well forked, the lower lobe longest ; gill-rakers long ; dorsal 

 spines depressible in a groove of scales ; small ctenoid scales 

 entirely covering the soft portions of the vertical fins, and ex- 

 tending up on the paired fins. 



The chub belongs to the family of rudder- 

 fishes, Kyphosidce. It was noticed as sectatrix 

 by Catesby in his " History of the Carolinas," in 

 1738, and was so named by Linnaeus in 1758. 

 Sectatrix is the feminine of sectator, meaning 

 " one who follows," in allusion to its habit of 

 following vessels. Its range is along the South 

 Atlantic coast to the West Indies, sometimes 

 straying as far north as Cape Cod in the summer. 

 It is common on the west coast of Florida. 



It has an oblong, elliptical body, its depth 

 being more than a third of its length. The head 

 is short, with a blunt snout and small mouth, 

 and a curved profile. There are well-developed 



