262 
AMERICAN FISHES. 
use, especially for the olivaceous species. This is a Portuguese word, and 
belonged originally to the species of Epinephelus and related genera. 
Different species have also special names, mostly given by the Portuguese 
fishermen. These are noticed below. 
The average size of the species of the group is about fifteen inches in 
length, and a weight of two or three pounds. Some of them reach a 
length of nearly three feet, and a weight of twelve pounds. Nothing is 
known of their rate of growth. 
The greatest abundance both of individuals and of species in this group 
is to be found from Santa Barbara to San Francisco, the maximum about 
Monterey. They occur from Cerros Island, where they are rather scarce, 
at least as far as Kodiak, and other species similar are found on the coasts 
of Japan and Chili. The individuals are extremely local. Most of the 
species are found about rocky reefs, often in considerable depths, and they 
probably stray but little from their abodes. In general, the red species 
inhabit greater depths than the brown or green ones, and the latter swim 
about more freely. Their abundance on certain reefs about Monterey and 
the Farallones is doubtless being diminished ; elsewhere there has been 
little danger of over-fishing. All are predatory and voracious, feeding 
mainly upon other fishes, and sometimes on crustaceans. 
All of the species are ovo-viviparous. The eggs are small and exceed¬ 
ingly numerous, and are hatched within the body. The eggs themselves- 
are bright yellow. In the spring, at a season varying with the latitude, 
and perhaps with different species, these yellow eggs turn to a grayish 
color. If then examined, the two eyes of the young fish can be distinctly 
seen. Later a slender body appears, with traces of vertical fins, the length 
then being about one-fourth to one-third of an inch. They are probably 
extruded at about the length of one-third of an inch, and in a very slender 
and pellucid condition, as I have never seen them in any more advanced 
stage of development. Nothing is known of the modes of copulation, nor 
of the circumstances under which the young are excluded, but the time of 
breeding is probably for the most part in May. Young fishes of one and 
a half to two inches are common in August, and in the fall they are large 
enough ( S . paucispinis , flavidus ) to be taken with hook and line from the 
wharves. Individuals of less than six or eight inches are rare in the spring, 
and the fish of that length are probably a year old. 
The enemies of these fishes are of course their predatory neighbors, and 
