1879.] Notes on Some Fishes of the Coast of California. 305 
The Italian fishermen call this species “pompino,” and this 
must be accepted, in the absence of any other, as its English name. 
I am informed that a fish called “ pompino,” on the Atlantic coast, 
is considered to be the most delicate of all fishes; this is Zra- 
chynotus carolinus, a very different species. Our “pompino” is 
also highly prized as a delicate morsel, and is one of the dearest 
fishes in the market. 
Mr. B. B. Redding has given me an account of a little practical 
joke in which the New Orleans species of pompino is concerned. 
When, during the civil war, Dr. Russell was in this country as 
correspondent, I believe, of the Zzmmes, he was so anxious to taste 
the celebrated pompino that he obtained leave to pass through 
the lines and visit New Orleans for the purpose. It happened, 
however, that pompino was not in season, but a perch of some- 
what similar size and form, aided by the cookery of a clever 
negro cook, was passed off upon him as pompino. Dr. Russell 
ate, relished exceedingly, and wrote to his paper a glowing 
description of the gustatory delights of pompino, and it ,was not 
till some years after that it transpired that pompino was not then 
in season, and that he had been put off with perch. 
Mugil mexicanus (?) Steind.—Several specimens of a species of 
Mugil, evidently very close to the above species, if not identical 
with it, have found their way to our markets in the months of 
September and October. All of them were taken near Santa 
Cruz, in the bay of Monterey. 
The specimens examined agree with M. mexicanus in the num- 
ber of scales in the lateral line, and of rays in the vertical fins, in 
the length of the latter, in the produced upper caudal lobe, and in 
the proportions of the body and head, and I should not hesitate 
to pronounce them to be of that species were it not that Mr. B. B. 
Redding, one of the Fish Commissioners for the State of Cali- 
fornia, has informed me that about three years ago he placed 
several (I believe about forty) individuals of a Mugil from the 
Sandwich islands in the Sacramento river, and it is, therefore, 
possible that the specimens obtained may be some of these, or 
their young. I suspect this because the shad introduced from the 
East, finds its way in considerable numbers to Monterey bay, 
instead of dutifully returning to the place of its birth, and this — 
Mugil may have acted in a similar way ; also because the speci- 
- Mens agree tolerably well with the diagnosis of Mugi cephalotus, 
