210 
BLUEFIELDS. 
tudinal lines of yellow ; the dorsal and caudal fins 
have borders of rose-pink, and there is a large oval 
black spot on each flank. The Hind (a species of 
Serranus) is a handsome fish ; it is studded with 
scarlet spots on a greyish-white ground: the fins are 
yellow, especially the caudal, with black borders 
having a narrow white edge ; sometimes the pectorals 
are brilliantly scarlet. 
But all of these yield to the different species of 
HcBmulorit which, under the name of Grunts, are well 
known and highH esteemed throughout the Carib- 
bean Sea. The names scientifically bestowed on 
many West Indian species, such as elegans, formo- 
sum, xanthopteron, &c., indicate their pretensions to 
beauty. Their characteristic markings and hues are 
oblique parallel lines of gold, on a silver or metallic 
azure ground, with delicately tinted fins, and some- 
times spots of peculiarly intense lustre : the whole 
interior of their mouth is generally of the finest 
scarlet. 
All of these are taken with the line, and with the 
seine, as well as in pots. The Snappers are per- 
haps more highly esteemed than the Grunts, but 
both are excellent. They chiefly affect what is 
called broken ground,” where patches of white sand 
alternate with masses of rough rock, and fields of 
grass-like weeds. They range from deep water to the 
rocky shore ; are taken abundantly with the seine, 
and bite freely at a bait of Sprat {Harengula clu~ 
peola ) ; but only fish of small and middling size 
are commonly caught in pots. The Snappers occa- 
sionally attain a length of two feet and a half ; but 
