132 FISHES OF THE EAST ATl.AN'TIC C.IAST. 



ventrnl and anal lighter. Body, oblong — elliptical, moderately compressed, not 

 alevated. Mouth, moderate, without distinct canines ; tongue with a large oval 

 patch of teeth, besides which are five or six smaller patches ; nostrils round, near 

 together, Preopcrcle finely serrate, its notch obsolete. ^Gill-rakers very long and 

 slender. Dorsal spines rather slender; 2d. anal spine a little longer than »3d. ; 

 caudal fin lunate, its lobes not attenuate. Head 33^ ; depth 3. D. XII , II ; A. 

 Ill, 8; Lat I. 54. L. 1.54. West Indies, North to S. Carolina and Florida. 



CeabEater, or Sergeant Pish. — Elacate Canada. — (Linn.— 

 Gill.) — The trivial name " sergeant fish," comes from the dark stripe 

 on the side, resembling that on the trowsers of a non-commissioned 

 officer. In shape the crab-eater resembles the pike of fresh water, 

 Msox. — being long and cylindrical, with a similar formation of head 

 and jaws. Its habits also ire similar to those of the pike, lying under 

 weeds and banks, waiting to seize upon smaller fishes. I have not 

 met with it in the Halifax River, but have found it abundant at the 

 Indian River Inlet, where it averages three feet in length, weigbing 

 five or six pounds. Takes mullet bait eagerly. In game qualities 

 and value of flesh it is perhaps equal to the pike — not very high 

 praise. 



JORDAN AND GILBERT'S DEECRIPTION. 

 E. canadensis — (Linn. — Gill ) — Crab-eater, Cobia. Olive brown ; sides with adis- 

 tinct broad band of darker, and a less distinct band above and below it ; below, 

 silvery. Head much depressed ; mouth moderate, the short maxillary reaching 

 front of orbit. Pectorals broad and falcate ; caudal deeply emarginate, the upper 

 lobe the longer. Lateral line wavy and irregular, descending posteriorly. Head 

 4i in length ; depth 5 2-3, D, VIII-i, 26 ; A. II, 25. L 5 feet. In ail warm 

 seas, occasional on our Atlantic coast in summer. 



