THE FISHES OF NEW JERSEY. 335 



brownish-dusky wavy lines obliquely forward from dorsal profile 

 below lateral line. A blackish humeral blotch smaller than orbit. 

 Fins dull olive. Length 7 inches. Atlantic City. 



Abundant on our coast, and on account of its small size is 

 valued chiefly as a pan-fish of excellent flavor. They are fre- 

 quently angled for about wharves, and often form a large per- 

 centage of the catch of the visiting fisherman to the seashore 

 resorts. They are often eagerly landed by youthful anglers, to- 

 gether with Tautogolabrus adspersus and small examples of Cen- 

 tropristes striatus. 



Liostomus xanthunis Abbott, Geol. N. J., 1868, p. 811. — Bean. 

 Bull. U. S. F. Com., VH, 1887, p. 141. 



Leiostomus xanthurus Moore, Bull. U. S. F. Com., XH, 1892, 

 p. 362.— Smith, Bull. U. S. F. Com., XH, 1892, p. 377. 



Leiostomus ohliqiius Baird, 9th An. Rep. Smiths. Inst., 1854, 



P- 329- 



Liostomus ohliquus Abbott, 1. c. 



Genus Mknticirrhus Gill. 



The King Fishes. ^ 



V 

 Key to the species. 



a. Outer upper teeth enlarged; dorsal' spines little elevated; color silvery- 

 gray with obscure dark markings. amERICAnus 

 aa. Outer upper teeth less enlarged ; dorsal spines elevated ; color scarcely 

 silvery. saxatiIvIs 



Menticirrhus americanus (Linngeus). 



Plate 66. 

 King Fish. 



D. X, I, 22, ; A. I, 7. Longest dorsal spine one-half as long as 

 soft dorsal, and two-thirds length of head. Length 12 inches. 

 Great Egg Harbor Bay. (Bean.) 



Distinguished from the next by the enlarged teeth in the outer 

 series of the upper jaw, longest dorsal spine not reaching front 



