CHAPTEE V. 



The Eock Grouper. — The Pompano. 



The Rock Groupef — So cnlled by the Floriila fishermen. 1 ha-' 

 Tnever seen any account of this spaces, scientific or otherwise. It, 

 differs from the common grouper in many particulars. It is a thick- 

 iSet, heavily built fish, Vi'ith a large head. Inhabits rocky bottoms 

 ind deep holes; r.''.ther sluggish, though a strong and heavy puller. 

 Color, dark brown with lighter marks and lines; scales small. Aver- 

 age weight five or six pounds, and has been taken in the Halifax River 

 ?i'eighing twenty-eight pounds. It is easier handled on a rod than 

 ■^e common grouper, not running to a hole like that fish, but fight- 

 ing in open water. 



It is a rich and well flavored fish, superior, in my opinion, to the 

 last named species. Some years this species is quite common, so 

 that some are taken every clay. In other years the}' may be scarce, 

 and this we find is the case with many species on the Florida coast. 

 Oil the northern coast we know that the same thing occurs, and there 

 it is often attributed to the effects of pound nets and seines and over- 

 fishing. 



On the Florida coast there have been few of these destructive 

 engines, and the cast net is the onlj^ net used, and that merely for 

 the needs of the scanty population of those shores. Except in the 

 neighborhood of St. Augustine and Jacksonville, the amount of fish 

 taken by man is very small. Marine birds and fishes of prey are the 

 principal destroyers of food fishes. In fact, the waters are almost 



