iS6 
AMERICAN FISHES . 
stant and he who chooses to do so may soon learn to discriminate between 
the Spanish Mackerel and its allies. 
The Spotted Cero, or King Cero, Scomberomorus regalis , has seventeen 
dorsal spines, and upon the front of the first dorsal, which is white, is a 
spot of deep blue, which is prolonged far back upon the upper edge of the 
fin. The sides are marked with broken longitudinal bands of gold, inter¬ 
lined with brown and golden spots. 
It differs from S. maculatus , which also has seventeen dorsal spines, in 
the form of its teeth and in its coloration. In the Spanish Mackerel the 
teeth are somewhat conical and very pointed, the first dorsal has a black 
blotch, and the spots upon the sides are golden brown nearly circular and 
not arranged in band like series. 
The King Cero is a magnificent fish which grows to be five or six feet in 
length and. attains a weight of twenty to thirty pounds. It is abundant in 
the West Indies, and has been recorded from Cuba, Santo Domingo, Ja¬ 
maica, Barbadoes, Key West, and Brazil. The Silver Cero, Scomberomo¬ 
rus caballa , has fourteen spines in its full dorsal fins, which is immaculate 
in color. The young fish have the sides of the body marked with indis¬ 
tinct spots, circular in form, and tawny in color, which disappear with age ; 
the lateral line is very sinuous upon the posterior portion of the body. 
It is a West Indian species, which has already been observed at Santo 
Domingo, Jamaica, Cuba, Martinique, Porto Rico, and Brazil, and a few 
specimens have been captured as far north as Wood’s Holl, Mass. Prof. 
Jordan states that they are caught with trolling hooks on nearly every 
summer trip of the steamer from Savannah to New York. This is a mag¬ 
nificent fish, which often attains the weight of twenty-five pounds. Its 
habits are doubtless like those of the Spanish Mackerel. The name Cero 
is commonly accepted in the United States; it is a corruption of the 
