THE SURMULLETS, THE CROAKERS AND THEIR
RELATIVES
[Illustration:
FIG. 289.—Red Goatfish, or Salmonete, _Pseudupeneus maculatus_ Bloch.
Family _Mullidæ_ (Surmullets.)
]
=THE Surmullets, or Goatfishes: Mullidæ.=—The _Mullidæ_ (Surmullets) are
shore-fishes of the warm seas, of moderate size, with small mouth, large
scales, and possessing the notable character of two long, unbranched
barbels of firm substance at the chin. The dorsal fins are short, well
separated, the first of six to eight firm spines. There are two anal
spines and the ventral fins, thoracic, are formed of one spine and five
rays. The flesh is white and tender, often of very superior flavor. The
species are carnivorous, feeding chiefly on small animals. They are not
voracious, and predaceous fishes feed freely on them. The coloration is
generally bright, largely red or golden, in nearly all cases with an
under layer, below the scales, of red, which appears when the fish is
scaled or placed in alcohol. The barbels are often bright yellow, and
when the fish swims along the bottom these are carried in advance,
feeling the way. Testing the bottom with their feelers, these fishes
creep over the floor of shallow waters, seeking their food.
The numerous species are all very much alike in form, and the current
genera are separated by details of the arrangement of the teeth. But few
are found outside the tropics.
The surmullet or red mullet of Europe, _Mullus barbatus_, is the most
famous species, placed by the Romans above all other fishes unless it be
the scarus, _Sparisoma cretense_. From the satirical poets we learn that
"enormous prices were paid for a fine fish, and it was the fashion to
bring the fish into the dining-room and exhibit it alive before the
assembled guests, so that they might gloat over the brilliant and
changing colors during the death-agonies." It is red in life, and when
the scales are removed, the color is much brighter.
It is an excellent fish, tender and rich, but nowhere so extravagantly
valued to-day as was formerly the case in Rome. _Mullus surmuletus_ is a
second European species, scarcely different from _Mullus barbatus_.
[Illustration:
FIG. 290.—Golden Surmullet, _Mullus auratus_ Jordan & Gilbert. Wood's
Hole, Mass.
]
Equally excellent as food and larger in size are two Polynesian species
known as kumu and munu (_Pseudupeneus porphyreus_ and _Pseudupeneus
bifasciatus_). _Mullus auratus_ is a small surmullet occasionally taken
off our Atlantic coast, but in deeper water than that frequented by the
European species. _Pseudupeneus maculatus_ is the red goatfish or
salmonete, common from Florida to Brazil, as is also the yellow
goatfish, _Pseudupeneus martinicus_, equally valued. Many other species
are found in tropical America, Polynesia, and the Indies and Japan.
Perhaps the most notable are _Upeneus vittatus_, striped with yellow and
with the caudal fin cross-barred and the belly sulphur-yellow, and
_Upeneus arge_, similar, the belly white. The common red and
black-banded "moana" or goatfish of Hawaii is _Pseudupeneus
multifasciatus_.
No fossil _Mullidæ_ are recorded, so far as known to us.
=The Croakers: Sciænidæ.=—The family of _Sciænidæ_ (croakers, roncadors)
is another of the great groups of food-fishes. The species are found on
every sandy shore in warm regions and all of them are large enough to
have value as food, while many have flesh of superior quality. None are
brightly colored, most of the species being nearly plain silvery.
[Illustration:
FIG. 291.—Spotted Weakfish, _Cynoscion nebulosus_. Virginia.
]
Special characters are the cavernous structure of the bones of the head,
which are full of mucous tracts, the specialization (and occasional
absence) of the air-bladder, and the presence of never more than two
anal spines, one of these being sometimes very large. Most of the
species are marine, all are carnivorous; none inhabit rocky places and
none descend to depths in the sea. At the least specialized extreme of
the family, the mouth is large with strong canines and the species are
slender, swift, and predaceous.
The weakfish or squeteague (_Cynoscion regalis_) is a type of a
multitude of species, large, swift, voracious, but with tender flesh,
which is easily torn. The common weakfish, abundant on our Atlantic
coast, suffers much at the hands of its enemy and associate, the
bluefish. It is one of the best of all our food-fishes. Farther south
the spotted weakfish (_Cynoscion nebulosus_), very incorrectly known as
sea-trout, takes its place, and about New Orleans is especially and
justly prized.
The California "bluefish," _Cynoscion parvipinnis_, is very similar to
these Atlantic species, and there are many other species of _Cynoscion_
on both coasts of tropical America, forming a large part of the best
fish-supply of the various markets of the mainland. On the rocky
islands, as Cuba, and about coral reefs, _Sciænidæ_ are practically
unknown. In the Gulf of California, the totuava, _Cynoscion macdonaldi_,
reaches a weight of 172 pounds, and the stateliest of all, the great
"white sea-bass" of California, _Cynoscion nobilis_, reaches 100 pounds.
In these large species the flesh is much more firm than in the weakfish
and thus bears shipment better. _Cynoscion_ has canines in the upper jaw
only and its species are all American. In the East Indies the genus
_Otolithes_ has strong canines in both jaws. Its numerous species are
very similar in form, habits, and value to those of _Cynoscion_. The
queenfish, _Seriphus politus_, of the California coast, is much like the
others of this series, but smaller and with no canines at all. It is a
very choice fish, as are also the species of _Macrodon_ (_Ancylodon_)
known as pescadillo del red, voracious fishes of both shores of South
America.
_Plagioscion squamosissimus_ and numerous species of _Plagioscion_ and
other genera live in the rivers of South America. A single species, the
river-drum, gaspergou, river sheepshead, or thunder-pumper (_Aplodinotus
grunniens_), is found in streams in North America. This is a large fish
reaching a length of nearly three feet. It is very widely distributed,
from the Great Lakes to Rio Usumacinta in Guatemala, whence it has been
lately received by Dr. Evermann. This species abounds in lakes and
sluggish rivers. The flesh is coarse, and in the Great Lakes it is
rarely eaten, having a rank odor. In Louisiana and Texas it is, however,
regarded as a good food-fish. In this species the lower pharyngeals are
very large and firmly united, while, as in all other _Sciænidæ_, except
the genus _Pogonias_, these bones are separated. In all members of the
family the ear-bones or otoliths are largely developed, often finely
sculptured. The otoliths of the river-drum are known to Wisconsin boys
as "lucky-stones," each having a rude impress of the letter L. The names
roncador, drum, thunder-pumper, croaker, and the like refer to the
grunting noise made by most _Sciænidæ_ in the water, a noise at least
connected with the large and divided air-bladder.
[Illustration:
FIG. 292.—Mademoiselle, _Bairdiella chrysura_ (Linnæus). Virginia.
]
Numerous silvery species belong to _Larimus_, _Corvula_, _Odontoscion_,
and especially to _Bairdiella_, a genus in which the second anal spine
is unusually strong. The mademoiselle, _Bairdiella chrysura_ is a pretty
fish of our Atlantic coast, excellent as a pan fish. In _Bairdiella
ensifera_ of Panama the second anal spine is enormously large, much as
in a robalo (_Oxylabrax_).
In _Stellifer_ and _Nebris_, the head is soft and spongy. _Stellifer
lanceolatus_ is occasionally taken off South Carolina, and numerous
other species of this and related genera are found farther South.
_Sciænops ocellata_ is the red-drum or channel bass of our South
Atlantic coast, a most important food-fish reaching a weight of
seventy-five pounds. It is well marked by a black ocellus on the base of
the tail. On the coast of Texas, this species, locally called redfish,
exceeds in economic value all other species found in that State.
_Pseudosciæna aquila_, the maigre of southern Europe, is another large
fish, similar in value to the red drum. _Pseudosciæna antarctica_ is the
kingfish of Australia. To _Sciæna_ belong many species, largely Asiatic,
with the mouth inferior, without barbels, the teeth small, and the
convex snout marked with mucous pores. _Sciæna umbra_, the ombre, is the
common European species, _Sciæna saturna_, the black roncador of
California, is much like it. _Sciæna deliciosa_ is one of the most
valued food-fishes of Peru, and _Sciæna argentata_ is valued in Japan.
Species of _Sciæna_ are especially numerous on the coasts of India.
[Illustration:
FIG. 293.—Red Drum, _Sciænops ocellata_ Linnæus. Texas.
]
_Roncador stearnsi_, the California roncador, is a large fish with a
black ocellus at the base of the pectoral. It has some importance in the
Los Angeles market. The goody, spot, or lafayette (_Leiostomus
xanthurus_) is a small, finely flavored species abundant from Cape Cod
to Texas. Similar to it but inferior is the little roncador (_Genyonemus
lineatus_) of California. The common croaker, _Micropogon undulatus_, is
very abundant on our Eastern coast, and other species known as
verrugatos or white-mouthed drummers replace it farther South.
In _Umbrina_ the chin has a short thick barbel. The species abound in
the tropics, _Umbrina cirrosa_ in the Mediterranean; _Umbrina coroides_
in California, and the handsome _Umbrina roncador_, the yellow-tailed
roncador, in southern California. The kingfish, _Menticirrhus_, differs
in lacking the air-bladder, and lying on the bottom in shallow water the
lower fins are enlarged much as in the darters or gobies. All the
species are American. All are dull-colored and all excellent as food.
_Menticirrhus saxatilis_ is the common kingfish or sea-mink, abundant
from Cape Ann southward, _Menticirrhus americanus_ is the equally common
sand-whiting of Carolina, and _Menticirrhus littoralis_ the
surf-whiting. The California whiting or sand-sucker is _Menticirrhus
undulatus_.
[Illustration:
FIG. 294.—Yellow-fin Roncador, _Umbrina sinaloæ_ Scofield. Mazatlan.
]
[Illustration:
FIG. 295.—Kingfish, _Menticirrhus americanus_ (Linnæus). Pensacola.
]
_Pogonias chromis_, the sea-drum, has barbels on the chin and the lower
pharyngeals are enlarged and united as in the river-drum, _Aplodinotus_.
It is a coarse fish common on our Atlantic coasts, a large specimen
taken at St. Augustine weighing 146 pounds. Other species of this
family, belonging to the genus _Eques_, are marked with ribbon-like
stripes of black. _Eques lanceolatus_, known in Cuba as serrana, is the
most ornate of these species, looking like a butterfly-fish or Chætodon.
Several fossil fragments have been doubtfully referred to _Sciæna_,
_Umbrina_, _Pogonias_, and other genera. Otoliths or ear-bones not
clearly identifiable are found from the Miocene on. These structures are
more highly specialized in this group than in any other.
[Illustration:
FIG. 296.—Drum, _Pogonias chromis_ (Linnæus). Matanzas, Fla.
]
=The Sillaginidæ, etc.=—Allied to the _Sciænidæ_ is the small family of
Kisugos, _Sillaginidæ_, of the coasts of Asia. These are slender,
cylindrical fishes, silvery in color, with a general resemblance to
small _Sciænas_.
_Sillago japonicas_, the kisugo of Japan, is a very abundant species,
valued as food. _Sillago sihama_ ranges from Japan to Abyssinia.
A number of small families, mostly Asiatic, may be appended to the
percoid series, with which they agree in general characters, especially
in the normal structure of the shoulder-girdle and in the insertion of
the pectoral and ventral fins.
The _Lactariidæ_ constitute a small family of the East Indies, allied to
the _Sciænidæ_, but with three anal spines. The mouth is armed with
strong teeth. _Lactarius lactarius_ is a food-fish of India.
The _Nandidæ_ are small spiny-rayed fishes of the East Indian streams,
without pseudobranchiæ.
The _Polycentridæ_ are small fresh-water perch-like fishes of the
streams of South America, without lateral line and with many anal
spines.
=The Jawfishes: Opisthognathidæ, etc.=—The _Pseudochromipidæ_ are
marine-fishes of the tropics with the lateral line interrupted, and with
a single dorsal. They bear some resemblance to _Plesiops_ and other
aberrant _Serranidæ_.
[Illustration:
FIG. 297.—_Gnathypops evermanni_ Jordan & Snyder. Misaki, Japan.
]
[Illustration:
FIG. 298.—Jawfish, _Opisthognathus macrognathus_ Poey. Tortugas, Fla.
]
Very close to these are the _Opisthognathidæ_ or jawfishes with a single
lateral line and the mouth very large. In certain species of
_Opisthognathus_, the maxillary, long and curved, extends far behind the
head. The few species are found in warm seas, but always very sparingly.
Some of them are handsomely colored.
=The Stone-wall Perch: Oplegnathidæ.=—A singular group evidently allied
to the _Hæmulidæ_ is the family of _Oplegnathidæ_. In these fishes the
teeth are grown together to form a bony beak like the jaw of a turtle.
Except for this character, the species are very similar to ordinary
grunts. While the mouth resembles that of the parrot-fish, it is
structurally different and must have been independently developed.
_Oplegnathus punctatus_, the "stonewall perch" (ishigakidai), is common
in Japan, as is also the banded _Oplegnathus fasciatus_. Other species
are found in Australia and Chile.
[Illustration:
FIG. 299.—_Opisthognathus nigromarginatus._ India. (After Day.)
]
=The Swallowers: Chiasmodontidæ.=—The family of swallowers
_Chiasmodontidæ_, is made up of a few deep-sea fishes of soft flesh and
feeble spines, the opercular apparatus much reduced. The ventrals are
post-thoracic, the rays I, 5, facts which point to some affinity with
the _Opisthognathidæ_, although Boulenger places these fishes among the
_Percesoces_. _Chiasmodon niger_, the black swallower of the
mid-Atlantic, has exceedingly long teeth and the whole body so
distensible that it can swallow fishes of many times its own size.
According to Gill:
[Illustration:
FIG. 300.—Black Swallower, _Chiasmodon niger_ Johnson, containing a
fish larger than itself. Le Have Bank.
]
"It espies a fish many times larger than itself, but which,
nevertheless, may be managed; it darts upon it, seizes it by the tail
and gradually climbs over it with its jaws, first using one and then the
other; as the captive is taken in the stomach and integuments stretch
out, and at last the entire fish is passed through the mouth and into
the stomach, and the distended belly appears as a great bag, projecting
out far backwards and forwards, over which is the swallower with the
ventrals dislocated and far away from their normal place. The walls of
the stomach and belly have been so stretched that they are transparent,
and the species of the fish can be discerned within. But such rapacity
is more than the captor itself can stand. At length decomposition sets
in, the swallower is forced belly upwards, and the imprisoned gas, as in
a balloon, takes it upwards from the depths to the surface of the ocean,
and there, perchance, it may be found and picked up, to be taken home
for a wonder, as it is really. Thus have at least three specimens found
their way into museums—one being in the United States National Museum—
and in each the fish in the stomach has been about twice as long, and
stouter in proportion, than the swallower—six to twelve times bulkier!
Its true habitat seems to be at a depth of about 1,500 fathoms."
Allied to this family is the little group of _Champsodontidæ_ of Japan
and the East Indies. _Champsodon vorax_ looks like a young
_Uranoscopus_. The body is covered with numerous lateral lines and
cross-lines.
=The Malacanthidæ.=—The _Malacanthidæ_ are elongate fishes, rather
handsomely colored, with a strong canine on the premaxillary behind.
_Malacanthus plumieri_, the matajuelo blanco, a slender fish of a
creamy-brown color, is common in the West Indies. Other species are
found in Polynesia, the most notable being _Malacanthus_ (or _Oceanops_)
_lativittatus_, a large fish of a brilliant sky-blue, with a jet-black
lateral band. In Samoa this species is called gatasami, the "eye of the
sea."
=The Blanquillos: Latilidæ.=—The _Latilidæ_, or blanquillos, have also
an enlarged posterior canine, but the body is deeper and the flesh more
firm. The species reach a considerable size and are valued as food.
_Lopholotilus chamæleonticeps_ is the famous tilefish dredged in the
depths under the Gulf Stream. It is a fish of remarkable beauty, red and
golden. This species, Professor Gill writes, "was unknown until 1879,
when specimens were brought by fishermen to Boston from a previously
unexplored bank about eighty miles southeast of No Man's Land, Mass. In
the fall of 1880 it was found to be extremely abundant everywhere off
the coast of southern New England at a depth of from seventy-five to two
hundred and fifty fathoms. The form of the species is more compressed,
and higher, than in most of the family, and what especially
distinguishes it is the development of a compressed, 'fleshy, fin-like
appendage over the back part of the head and nape, reminding one of the
adipose fin of the salmonids and catfishes.' It is especially notable,
too, for the brilliancy of its colors, as well as for its size, being by
far larger than any other member of its family. A weight of fifty pounds
or more is, or rather, one might say, was frequently attained by it,
although such was very far above the average, that being little over ten
pounds. In the reach of water referred to, it could once be found
abundantly at any time, and caught by hook and line. After a severe gale
in March, 1882, millions of tilefish could be seen, or calculated for,
on the surface of the water for a distance of about three hundred miles
from north to south, and fifty miles from east to west. It has been
calculated by Capt. Collins that as many as one thousand four hundred
and thirty-eight millions were scattered over the surface. This would
have allowed about two hundred and twenty-eight pounds to every man,
woman and child of the fifty million inhabitants of the United States!
On trying at their former habitat the next fall, as well as all
successive years to the present time, not a single specimen could be
found where formerly it was so numerous. We have thus a case of a
catastrophe which, as far as has been observed, caused complete
annihilation of an abundant animal in a very limited period. Whether the
grounds it formerly held will be reoccupied subsequently by the progeny
of a protected colony remains to be seen, but it is scarcely probable
that the entire species has been exterminated." It is now certain that
the species is not extinct.
_Caulolatilus princeps_ is the blanquillo or "whitefish" of southern
California, a large handsome fish formed like a dolphin, of purplish,
olivaceous color and excellent flesh. Other species of _Caulolatilus_
are found in the West Indies. _Latilus_ _japonicus_ is the amadai or
sweet perch of Japan, an excellent food-fish of a bright crimson color.
The _Pinguipedidæ_ of Chile resemble the _Latilidæ_, having also the
enlarged premaxillary tooth. The ventrals are, however, thickened and
placed farther forward.
=The Bandfishes: Cepolidæ.=—The small family of _Cepolidæ_, or
bandfishes, resemble the _Latilidæ_ somewhat and are probably related to
them. The head is normally formed, the ventral fins are thoracic, with a
spine and five rays, but the body is drawn out into a long eel-like
form, the many-rayed dorsal and anal fins meeting around the tail. The
few species are crimson in color with small scales. They are used as
food, but the flesh is dry and the bones are stiff and numerous. _Cepola
tænia_ is common in the Mediterranean, and _Acanthocepola krusensterni_
abounds in the bays of southern Japan.
=The Cirrhitidæ.=—The species of the family _Cirrhitidæ_ strongly
resemble the smaller _Serranidæ_ and even _Serranus_ itself, but the
lower rays of the pectoral fins are enlarged and are undivided, as in
the sea-scorpions and some sculpins. In these fishes, however, the bony
stay, which characterizes _Scorpænidæ_ and _Cottidæ_, is wholly absent.
It is, however, considered possible that this interesting family
represents the point of separation at which the mail-cheeked fishes
become differentiated from the typical perch-like forms. _Goniistius
zonatus_, the _takanohadai_, is a valuable food-fish of Japan, marked by
black cross-bands. _Paracirrhites forsteri_ and other species of
_Cirrhitus_ and _Paracirrhites_ are very pretty fishes of the coral
reefs, abundant in the markets of Honolulu, the spotted _Cirrhitus
marmoratus_ being the most widely diffused of these. Only one species of
this family, _Cirrhitus rivulatus_, a large fish, green, with blue
markings, is found in American waters. It frequents the rocky shores of
the west coast of Mexico.
Allied to the _Cirrhitidæ_ is the small family of _Latrididæ_, with a
long dorsal fin deeply divided, and the lower rays of the pectoral
similarly modified. _Latris hecateia_ is called the "trumpeter" in
Australian waters. It is one of the best food-fishes of Australia,
reaching a weight of sixty to eighty pounds.
Another small family showing the same peculiar structure of the pectoral
fin is that of the _Aplodactylidæ_. The species of _Aplodactylus_ live
on the coasts of Chile and Australia. They are herbivorous fishes, with
flat, tricuspid teeth, and except for their pectoral fins are very
similar to the _Kyphosidæ_.
[Illustration:
FIG. 301.—_Cirrhitus rivulatus_ Valenciennes. Mazatlan.
]
=The Sandfishes: Trichodontidæ.=—In the neighborhood of the _Latrididæ_,
Dr. Boulenger places the _Trichodontidæ_ or sandfishes, small,
scaleless, silvery fishes of the northern Pacific. These are much
compressed in body, with very oblique mouths, with fringed lips and, as
befits their northern habitat, with a much increased number of vertebræ.
They bury themselves in sand under the surf, and the two species,
_Trichodon trichodon_ and _Arctoscopus japonicus_, range very widely in
the regions washed by the Japan current. These species bear a strong
resemblance to the star-gazers (_Uranoscopus_), but this likeness seems
to be superficial only.
[Illustration:
FIG. 302.—Sandfish, _Trichodon trichodon_ (Tilesius). Shumagin
Islands, Alaska.
]