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French Grunt; Open-mouthed Grunt — Part 2
Images coming soon.
Colour in spirits, dark steel-gray, a very distinct small pale spot on each scale of back and side, surrounded by darker; in life these spots are pearly blue; head plain; a small dusky blotch under angle of preopercle; fins plain, bright yellow in life. Young with a large black blotch at base of caudal.
The other species, L. opalescens, is known only from Mazatlan, where it is rather common in the estuary. It is probably not rare, but has been confounded with the preceding, from which it may be distinguished by the fewer gill-rakers, 8+15, and the deeper body, the depth being 2 2/3 in length. The species reaches a length of 9 inches or more.
GENUS ANISOTREMUS GILL
Body ovate, short, deep, and compressed; mouth rather small, the lips thick, the maxillary rather short; inside of mouth not red; teeth in jaws only, all pointed, those of the outer series in upper jaw enlarged; chin with a median groove, besides smaller pores; dorsal spines strong; soft rays of dorsal and anal scaly at base; anal spines strong; caudal usually lunate; scales large; lower pharyngeals broad, with coarse, blunt teeth. This genus, like Haemulon, to which it is closely related, contains numerous species, all of them living on the shores of tropical America. All of the species undergo considerable change in form with age, and all of them are valued as food-fishes. The young are marked with 2 or 3 blackish lengthwise stripes, which disappear with age, very soon in the brightly coloured species, but persisting longer in those less brightly coloured.
There are in our waters 12 species, several of which are sufficiently abundant to be of commercial value.