Fig. 270.—Lutianus apodus (Walbaum), Schoolmaster or Cají. Family Lutianidæ.
Fig. 271.—Hoplopagrus guntheri Gill. Mazatlan.
Fig. 272.—Lane Snapper or Biajaiba, Lutianus synagris (Linnæus). Key West.
A related species is the Lutianus analis, the mutton snapper or pargo criollo of the West Indies. This is one of the staple fishes of the Havana market, always in demand for banquets and festivals, because its flesh is never unwholesome. The mangrove snapper, or gray-snapper, Lutianus griseus, called in Cuba, Caballerote, is the commonest species on our coasts. The common name arises from the fact that the young hide in the mangrove bushes of Florida and Cuba, whence they sally out in pursuit of sardines and other small fishes. It is a very wary fish, to be sought with care, hence the name "lawyer," sometimes heard in Florida. The cubero (Lutianus cyanopterus) is a very large snapper, often rejected as unwholesome, being said to cause the disease known as ciguatera. Certain snappers in Polynesia have a similar reputation. The large red mumea, Lutianus bohar, is regarded as always poisonous in Samoa—the most dangerous fish of the islands. L. leioglossus is also held under suspicion on Tutuila, though other fishes of this type are regarded as always safe. Other common snappers of Florida and Cuba are the dog snapper or jocu (Lutianus jocu), the schoolmaster or cají (Lutianus apodus), the black-fin snapper or sese de lo alto (Lutianus buccanella), the silk snapper or pargo de lo alto (Lutianus vivanus), the abundant lane snapper or biajaiba (Lutianus synagris), and the mahogany snapper or ojanco (Lutianus mahogani). Numerous other species occur on both coasts of tropical America, and a vastly larger assemblage is found in the East Indies, some of them ranging northward to Japan.
Fig. 273.—Yellow-tail Snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus (Linnæus). Key West.
Fig. 274.—Cachucho, Etelis oculatus (Linnæus). Havana.