American food and game fishes - a popular account of all the species found in America, north of the equator, with keys for ready identification, life histories and methods of capture (1902) (14596318807)

Identifier: americanfoodgam00jord (find matches)
Title: American food and game fishes : a popular account of all the species found in America, north of the equator, with keys for ready identification, life histories and methods of capture
Year: 1902 (1900s)
Authors: Jordan, David Starr, 1851-1931 Evermann, Barton Warren, 1853-1932
Subjects: Fishes
Publisher: New York : Doubleday, Page & Co.
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto



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o. It reaches a foot to 18inches in length, and a weight of a pound or more. At all placeswhere common it is of much value as a food-fish; and the angler whovisits Key West will find it interesting as a game-fish. Colour in life, yellowish, side with about 10 broad, brassy bands,alternating with somewhat narrower pale blue bands, the fourth ofwhich runs forward across upper edge of orbit, crossing the foreheadand joining its fellow on opposite side; cheek and snout with similarblue lines, the one on middle of cheek forking below eye and enclosingan oblong area of the ground colour; spinous dorsal pale yellowisholive, bordered with orange; soft dorsal rusty olivaceous, with orangeborder; inside of mouth, except tips of jaws, blood-red. Common Grunt; White Grunt Hcemulon plumieri (Lacepede) This is by far the most important of all the grunts. Its rangeextends from Cape Hatteras and Pensacola to Brazil. It is commoneverywhere on sandy shores, and it is par excellence the grunt of our 426
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French Grunt; Open-mouthed Grunt South Atlantic States and Florida. At Key West it is the most abun-dant of all the food-fishes, and is caught the year round, the best timebeing in the fall. Their spawning season is in August and Septem-ber, at which time they gather into immense schools on shoal, feathery,and rock bottom, where they spawn. The eggs are said to be gritty to the touch and about the size of a No. lo shot; whenripe they separate and flow freely from the fish. After spawning,the schools break up and the fish scatter. They are so abundant,however, that they can usually be found in large numbers on anysuitable bottom. About Key West the white grunt grows to i8inches in length and 4 pounds in weight, though the average is muchless. About Porto Rico, where it is called cachicata and boca Colorado,it is one of the most abundant and useful species, and was seen byus in all the markets of the island. It is there caught either in fish-traps or haul-seines, while at Key West many