CHAPTER XI
SPOTTED EELS, CRAB EATERS, SURF WHITING, MOON FISH, LEATHER JACKETS, TRIGGER FISH, AND MULLET
Spotted Eel (Mystriophys intertinctus)
There is something peculiarly snakelike about these yellow, black-spotted eels, which are only found washed ashore after storms from a certain quarter, and never, at any rate to my knowledge, take a baited hook. There are many of these spotted eels in the waters round Florida Keys, and one of them is known as the “sea-serpent.”
The small upper fish in the photograph is evidently a wrass of some kind, probably a rock-cook (Centrolabrus), but as no one catches the wrass, save by accident, I never studied them.
Cobia or Crab Eater (Rachycentron canadus)
This handsome and sporting fish is allied to the mackerel, and in some parts, indeed, goes by the name of “bonito,” though the true bonito is more closely related to the tunny. Its specific name is a good instance of the singular inappropriateness of some such titles, for it does not occur in Canada. The cobia grows to a length of four or five feet, and is a dashing fish when hooked, though it is not very common in the angler’s catch.
