Fig. 268.—Bigeye, Pseudopriacanthus altus Gill. Young specimen. (From life by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt.)
The Bigeyes: Priacanthidæ.—The Catalufas or bigeyes (Priacanthidæ) are handsome fishes of the tropics, with short, flattened bodies, rough scales, large eyes, and bright-red coloration. The mouth is very oblique, and the anal fin about as large as the dorsal. The commonest species is Priacanthus cruentatus, widely diffused through the Pacific and also in the West Indies. This is the noted Aweoweo of the Hawaiians, which used to come into the bays in myriads at the period of death of royalty. It is still abundant, even after Hawaiian royalty has passed away.
Pseudopriacanthus altus is a short, very deep-bodied, and very rough fish, scarlet in color, occasionally taken along our coast, driven northward by the Gulf Stream. The young fishes are quite unlike the adult in appearance. Numerous other species of Priacanthus occur in the Indies and Polynesia.
The Pentacerotidæ.—Another family with strong spines and rough scales is the group of Pentacerotidæ. Histiopterus typus, the Matodai, is found in Japan, and is remarkable for its very deep body and very high spines. Equally remarkable is the Tengudai, Histiopterus acutirostris, also Japanese. Anoplus banjos is a third Japanese species, more common than the others, and largely taken in the Inland Sea. All these are eccentric variations from the perch-like type.
The Snappers: Lutianidæ.—Scarcely less numerous and varied than the sea-bass is the great family of Lutianidæ, known in America as snappers or pargos. In these fishes the maxillary slips along its edge into a sheath formed by the broad preorbital. In the Serranidæ there is no such sheath. In the Lutianidæ there is no supplemental maxillary, teeth are present on the vomer and palatines, and in the jaws there are distinct canines. These fishes of the warm seas are all carnivorous, voracious, gamy, excellent as food though seldom of fine grain, the flesh being white and not flaky. About 250 species are known, and in all warm seas they are abundant.
Fig. 269.—Gray Snapper, Lutianus griseus L. Puerto Rico. (After Evermann.)
To the great genus Lutianus most of the species belong. These are the snappers of our markets and the pargos of the Spanish-speaking fishermen. The shore species are green in color, mostly banded, spotted, or streaked. In deeper water bright-red species are found. One of these, Lutianus aya, the red snapper or pargo guachinango of the Gulf of Mexico, is, economically speaking, the most important of all these fishes in the United States. It is a large, rather coarse fish, bright red in color, and it is taken on long lines on rocky reefs chiefly about Pensacola and Tampa in Florida, although similar fisheries exist on the shores of Yucatan and Brazil.
