It has a short, compressed body, its depth being half of its length, with the back very much elevated. Its head is short compared with its height, with a very steep profile, slightly convex in front and very much arched at the nape. The mouth is quite small, with thick lips; the jaws are armed with bands of sharp, pointed teeth, the outer row enlarged. The ground color of the body is pearly gray; an oblique black bar, as wide as the eye, extends from the nape through the eye to the angle of the mouth; another broader and jet-black vertical bar extends from the front of the dorsal fin to the base of the pectoral fin; the interspace between the bars is pearly gray, with yellow spots, becoming confluent above; beginning at the vertical bar and extending backward are half a dozen deep yellow, longitudinal, and parallel stripes, the lower ones reaching the caudal fin; all of the fins are deep yellow. The pork-fish resorts to the reefs and coralline rocks, feeding on crustaceans, small marine invertebrates, and small, soft-shelled mollusks, which it crushes with the blunt teeth in its throat. Its usual size runs from half a pound to a pound, but occasionally grows to two pounds. It should be fished for with very light tackle, about the same as used for the pig-fish, but with smaller hooks. No. 5 or 6, on gut snells, and cut-conch bait, small shrimps, and beach-fleas. The pork-fish has been known from the time of Marcgrave, over two centuries ago, from Brazil, and from the West Indies for many years, but was not recorded from the waters of the United States until 1881, when I collected it near Key West. As in the case of the yellow grunt and the lane snapper, it is surprising that such long-described and well-marked and beautiful species should have been overlooked in our own waters until my collection of that year. THE SNAPPER FAMILY (_Lutianidæ_) This family of perchlike fishes is related to the grunts on one hand, and to the groupers, or sea-basses, on the other. Those to be described here are mostly of small or moderate size, but are all good food-fishes and fair game-fishes. They are abundant along the Florida Keys, and with the exception of the red snapper are caught in a similar manner, and with the same tackle and baits, as the grunts. They are characterized by an oblong body more or less elevated and compressed; rough scales, large head and mouth; teeth sharp and unequal; dorsal fin single, with ten or twelve spines; anal fin similar in shape to soft dorsal fin, with three spines; the caudal fin concave.