398 NATUEAL HISTOEY OP AQUATIC ANIMALS. 



called Eed Mouths, or Flannel Mouths. From their habit of uttering a loud, rather melodious sound 

 when taken from the water they have acquired the name of "Grunt" and "Pig-fish." In some 

 localities they are also called " Squirrel-fish," in allusion to the same habit. They are, for the 

 most part, bottom feeders, preying chiefly upon crustaceans and small fish. In fact, they are, in 

 most respects, miniature counterparts of the red snapper. In many localities they are in high 

 favor as a food-fish. They have not yet been very carefully studied, but so far as they are now 

 understood the following species are known to occur in sufilcient numbers to prove of commercial 

 importance : 



The Black Geunt — Diabasis PLxnynEEi. 



This species has a brownish body, lighter upon the sides, and has the sides of the head 

 ornamented with numerous horizontal stripes of bright blue, while the posterior half of the lower 

 lip is red. It occurs as far north as Charleston, and Dr. Yarrow claims to have seen it at Beaufort, 

 Forth Carolina, though there is some question whether this species was not mistaken for another. 

 Holbrook records that it has been observed on the Atlantic borders of South Carolina, Georgia, 

 and Florida. I noticed several small individuals in the markets of Saint Augustine in March, 1877. 

 Stearns mentions the Black Grunt as abundant at Key West among the reefs, and as frequently 

 seen in the markets. 



The Eed-mouth Gextnt — ^Diabasis AtrBOLiHEATUs. 



The Eed-mouth Grunt, Diabasis auroUneatus, is probably the Flannel-mouthed Porgy, 

 familiar to Florida fishermen, and often taken on the Saint John's Bar. It has also been 

 recently found to be common in Charleston in summer. This species was mentioned in 

 Catesby's great work, published in 1743, under the name of "Margate-fish." When alive its 

 color is bright silvery, but it soon becomes, when taken from the water, of a dull amber- 

 brown, with a slight brazen tint along the back and sides, though the belly remains white. The 

 upper jaw within is white; the palate is salmon-colored; the lower jaw and month below are also 

 white in their interior third; the posterior two-thirds, both within and without, are red, and the 

 mouth below; the tongue and fauces are of a similar color.^ This fish occurs in Northern Brazil 

 and throughout the West Indies, and specimens are recorded from Jamaica, Trinidad, and the 

 Bahamas ; it is found in the Bermudas and on our coast at least as far north as Charleston. Stearns 

 writes: "It is quite common on the Gulf coast of Florida from Pensacola to Key West. It is 

 caught with hook and line, and is eaten as a pan-fish. I took an extremely large specimen from 

 the snapper ground between Cedar Keys and Saint Mark's in fifteen fathoms of water. It is not 

 found in the vicinity of Pensacola." Holbrook writes: "The Eed-mouthed Grunt is occasionally 

 taken in our waters at all seasons of the year, but is never abundant, as seldom more than a dozen 

 or two are met with in the market at one time. It is not highly esteemed for food, since its flesh 

 lacks both firmness and flavor." 



Uhler and Lugger say that it occurs occasionally in the lower part of the Chesapeake Bay, 

 where it is not considered to possess great economical value. The occurrence of this species so 

 far north needs confirmation. 



The Pia-FisH — Pomodasys pxjltomaoxjlatus. 



A species belonging to a closely related genus is the Hog-fish, or Grunt, of the Chesapeake, 

 called also "Pig-fish" or "Grunt" in the Gulf of Mexico, Pomodasys fulvomaoulattis, and known 

 in South Carolina as well as in Bermuda under the name of " Sailor's Choice." Its color is thus 



■Description by Holbrook. 



