8 o 
AMERICAN FISHES. 
zontal stripes of bright blue, while the posterior half of the lower lip is red. 
It occurs as far north as Charleston, and Dr. Yarrow claims to have seen 
it at Beaufort, North Carolina, though there is some question whether this 
species was not mistaken for another. Holbrook records that it has been 
observed on the Atlantic borders of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. 
I noticed several small individuals in the markets of Saint Augustine in 
March, 1877. Stearns mentions the Black Grunt as abundant at Key 
West among the reefs, and as frequently seen in the markets. It is there 
known as the “ Ronco Grande,” D. albus being called the “Margate 
Fish,” and D. chromis the “Sailor’s Choice.” 
The Red-Mouth Grunt, Diabasis aurolinecitus, is probably the “ Flannel¬ 
mouthed Porgy,” familiar to Florida fishermen, and often taken on 
the St. Johns bar. It has recently been found to be common in 
Charleston in summer. This species was mentioned in Catesby’s great 
work, published in 1643, under the name of “Margate-fish.” When 
alive its color is bright silvery, but it soon becomes, when taken from the 
water, of a dull amber-brown, with a slight brazen tint along the back 
and sides, though the belly remains white. The upper jaw, within, is white ; 
the palate is salmon-colored ; the lower jaw and mouth below are also 
white in their interior third ; the posterior two-thirds, both within and 
without, are red, and the mouth below ; the tongue and fauces are of a 
similar color. This fish occurs in Northern Brazil and throughout the 
West Indias, and specimens are recorded from Jamaica, Trinidad, and 
the Bahamas; it is found in the Bermudas and on our coast at least as far 
north as Charleston. Stearns writes: “It is quite common on the Gulf 
coast of Florida from Pensacola to Key West. It is caught with hook and 
line, and is eaten as a pan-fish. I took an extremely large specimen 
from the snapper ground between Cedar Keys and St. Marks in fifteen 
fathoms of water. It is not found in the vicinity of Pensacola.” Hol¬ 
brook writes: “The Red-mouthed Grunt is occasionally taken in our 
waters at all seasons of the year, but is never abundant, as seldom more 
than a dozen or two are met with in the market at one time. It is not 
highly esteemed for food, since its flesh lacks both firmness and flavor.” 
Uhler and Lugger say that it occurs occasionally in the lower part of 
the Chesapeake Bay, where it is not considered to possess great economi¬ 
cal value. The occurrence of this species so far north needs confirmation. 
The Norfolk Hog-fish, Pomodasys fulvomaculatus , belonging to a 
