324 NATURAL HISTOEY OF AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



pursuit of prey tliey are very ravenous and move with the rapidity of llgbtning. They readily 

 take a troll either with bait or rag. The favortte mode of capturing them, as well as all other 

 large fish that feed iu shallow water or near the shore, is with a rifle. The high, rocky shores 

 afford an excellent opportunity for this sport, though the rapid movements of the fish render 

 them very difficult targets." 



Mr. Stearns writes: "The OrevalM is common on the Gulf coast. In West Florida it appears 

 in May and remains until late in the fall, and is equally abundant in the bays and at sea. In the 

 bays it is noticeable from the manner iu which it preys upon fish smaller than itself, the Gulf 

 menhaden and mullet being the most common victims. On arrival it contains spawn which it 

 probably deposits in the salt-water bayous, for in the fall schools of young are seen coming out of 

 those places on their way to the sea. These young are then of about one pound weight, appearing 

 to the casual observer like pompano, and I am told that they equal it for edible purposes. They 

 are caught accidentally by seines and trolling-lines. Large ones are -not considered choice food, the 

 flesh being dark and almost tasteless. The average weight is twelve pounds; occasionally they 

 attain the size of twenty pounds." 



Professor Jordan found this species abundant in Lake Ponchartrain. 



The Gogglbe — Caranx crumbnophthalmus. 



This fish, called in the Bermudas, where it is of some importance as a food- fish, the " Goggler," 

 or " Goggle-eyed Jack," and in Cuba the "Cicharra," occurs in the West Indies and along the 

 Atlantic coast of the United States north to the Vineyard Sound. It is also found at Panama and 

 in the Gulf of California, and in the Indian Ocean, the Eed Sea, and off tlie coast of Guinea, while, 

 as has been remarked, it is abundant in the Bermudas. Its large, protruding eyes are very notice- 

 able features, and the Bermuda name seems appropriate for adoption, since the fish has with us 

 never received a distinctive name. In form it somewhat resembles the species last discussed, with 

 which it is probably often confused. 



Stearns speaks of a fish, common at Key West, which is known as the "Horse-eyed Jack," and 

 this may prove to be the same siiecies. 



The Jueel — Caranx pisquetus. 



This fish, known about Pensacola as the "Jurel," "Cojinua," and "Hard-tail"; along the 

 Florida coast as "Jack-fish" and "Skipjack"; in the Bermudas as the "Jack" or "Buffalo Jack"; 

 in South Carolina as the "Horse Crevall^"; at Fort Macon as the "Horse-Mackerel"; about New 

 York and on the coast of New Jersey as the "Yellow Mackerel," is found in the Western Atlantic 

 from Brazil, Cuba, and Hayti to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where sjjecimens were secured by the United 

 States Fish Commission in 1877. It is one of the commonest summer visitants of the West Indian 

 fauna along the whole coast of Southern New England and the Middle States, being especially 

 abundant in the Gulf of Mexico, and one of the commonest fishes in the Bermudas. This fish is 

 -.occasionally brought to the New York market, but is of no special importance as an article of food 

 north of the Gulf of Mexico. Concerning its habits in those waters, Mr. Stearns has contributed 

 a very interesting series of notes. They are especially entertaining, since nothing has previously 

 been known of its life-history : 



"It is extremely abundant everywhere on the Gulf coast of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. 



At Pensacola it is one of the important fishes of trade, an d is highly prized for food. It is one of 



the class of migratory fishes of this coast, like the pompano, mullet, Spanish mackerel, and red- 



■ fish, ha\'ing certain seasons for appearing and disappearing on the coast, and also has habits during 



these seasons that are peculiar to themselves or their class. It appears on the coast in April, iu 



