FIG. 261.—Red Hind, _Epinephelus adscensionis_ (Osbeck). Puerto Rico. (After Evermann.) ]
FIG. 262.—Yellow-fin Grouper, _Mycteroperca venenosa_ (Linnæus). Havana. ]
The small fishes called Vaca in Cuba belong to the genus _Hypoplectrus_. Their extraordinary and unexplained variations in color have been noticed on page 235, Vol. I. The common species—blue, orange, green, plain, striated, checkered, or striped—bears the name of _Hypoplectrus unicolor_. (Fig. 264).
=The Serranos.=—In all the species known as jewfish and grouper, as also in the _Oxylabracidæ_ and most _Centrarchidæ_, the maxillary bone is divided by a lengthwise suture which sets off a distinct supplemental maxillary. This bone is wanting in the remaining species of _Serranidæ_, as it is also in those forms already noticed which are familiarly known as bass. The species without the supplemental maxillary are in general smaller in size, the canines are on the sides of the jaws instead of in front, and there are none of the hinged depressible teeth which are conspicuous in the groupers. The species are abundant in the Atlantic, but scarcely any are found in Polynesia, and few in Japan or India.
FIG. 263.—_Hypoplectrus unicolor nigricans_ (Poey). Tortugas, Fla. ]
_Serranus cabrilla_ is the Cabrilla of the Mediterranean, a well-known and excellent food-fish, the original type of the family of _Serranidæ_. _Serranellus scriba_ is the serran, a very pretty shore-fish of southern Europe, longer known than any other of the tribe. On the coast of southern California are also species called Cabrillas, fine, large, food-fish, bass-like in form, _Paralabrax clathratus_, and other less common species. The _Cabrillas_ and their relatives are almost all American, a few straying across to Europe. One of the most important in the number is the black sea-bass, or black will, of our Atlantic coast, _Centropristes striatus_. This is a common food-and game-fish, dusky in color, gamy, and of fine flesh. The squirrel-fishes (_Diplectrum_) and the many serranos (_Prionodes_) of the tropics, small bright-colored fishes of the rocks and reefs, must be passed with a word, as also the small _Paracentropristis_ of the Mediterranean and the fine red creole-fish of the West Indies, _Paranthias furcifer_. In one species, _Anyperodon leucogrammicus_ of Polynesia, there are no teeth on the palatines.