124 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
81. Scomberomorus regalis (Bloch). Sierra; Pintado. 
Head 4.25; depth 5.2; eye 5.8; snout 2.5; maxillary 1.8; mandible 1.6; interorbital 3.5; D. xvm- 
14-ix; A. xi-15-viii; pectoral 1.9; ventral 4.2; caudal 1 1. Lateral line descending gradually from 
opposite last dorsal spines to caudal peduncle, slightly undulate; maxillary reaching posterior border 
of orbit. 
Color in spirits: Silvery below, dark-blue above; side with a blackish longitudinal band from 
base of pectoral nearly to base of caudal, crossing lateral line under soft dorsal, somewhat interrupted 
posteriorly; below this a row of oblong dark spots forming an interrupted band; a few other faint 
spots at border of dark color of back; anterior portion of spinous dorsal black. 
Cape Cod to Brazil; not very common on our south Atlantic coast, but abundant about Cuba; 
known also from Jamaica, Martinique, and Porto Rico. One 16 inches long from Puerto Real, and 
others seen. 
Scomberomorus regalis Bloch, Ichthyol., pi. 333, 1795, Martinique; after a drawing by Plunder. 
Scomberomorus plumieri LacdpSde, Hist. Nat. Poiss., Ill, 292, 1806, Martinique; after Aubriet’s copy of drawing by Plunder. 
Cybium acervum Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist Nat. Poiss., VIII, 186, 1831, Cuba. 
Cybium regale, Poey, Fauna Puerto-Riqucna, 331, 1881; Stahl, 1. c., 77 and 163, 1883. 
Scomberomorus regalis, Jordan & Evermann, 1. e., 875, 1896. 
82. Scomberomorus cavalla (Cuvier & Valenciennes) . King-fish Cero; Ca, valla; Sierra .. 
Head5; depth 6; eye large; 2 in snout. D. xv-i, 15-vm; A. ii, 15-viii. Mouth large, maxillary 
reaching to below eye. Lateral line descending abruptly below second dorsal. Teeth triangular, 
strongly compressed, about 30 on each jaw. Pectoral 5 in body. Gillrakers very short; less than 
one-third diameter of eye, about 8 below angle. 
Adult iron-gray, nearly or quite immaculate; young with sides of body marked with darker 
yellowish spots; spinous dorsal without black blotch anteriorly. 
Found in the tropical Atlantic, in the open seas, coining in immense numbers to Florida Keys 
and Charleston, ranging north to Cape Cod and south to Africa and Brazil; very common on our 
south Atlantic coast, especially among the Florida Keys, the catch at Key West very large. One of 
the best food-fishes of the Florida coast. Its flesh is firm and of excellent flavor. It usually appears 
in large numbers from November until April, when it is caught by trolling. The usual weight is 
about 10 pounds, sometimes reaching 50 pounds. The largest of which there is any record dressed 52 
pounds, and 40 pounds is not an unusual weight. Said to school at spawning time, which is believed 
to be late in the winter. 
According to Mr. William H. Abbott, who studied the fisheries in 1891, the average weight of 
king-fish, as caught by the fishermen of Key West, is about 6 pounds. The larger, weighing from 15 
pounds upward, are never as abundant as those weighing under 15. When the fisherman desires to 
catch large king-fish, he directs his course to the inshore grounds, lying in about 3 fathoms of water 
and from 1.5 to 3 miles from shore, where the water is muddy; and when small ones are desired, the 
fishing is done farther offshore along the edge of the Gulf Stream, where the water is much clearer. 
They are almost invariably found in two separate schools. The Florida spawning-grounds of the 
king- fish are “down the bay.” The first of the winter a great many of the fish have large roes, but it 
is very seldom that one is taken that has a roe fully matured. If the weather has been very cold in the 
bay early in the fall, the king-fish will leave before they have spawned, and it is during such seasons 
that fish containing ripe spawn are most frequently taken. 
