OCR Text |
Show . 1 YELLOWTAIL (.1953 National Wildlife Federation -,-intiv.n0t vSU,''lri-si,1 that a dcs-should dcs-should bo nppliod to more than tion is to members of the genus U. j.ms. which genus covers h Va,fL1'Up of fishcs known as the Red Snappers but including also n number of other "snappers v . C,n,ru,bn area the name Yellowtail is applied to a fish which is in general red but darker above and silverv beneath but shows a number of lighter streaks, lne tail of course is yellow and in young animals the iris is a bright yellow. This fish Lutianus vivarlus may be called the Silk Snapper or Fargo de lo Alto. It is found most ocmnionly in the West Indies area where it feeds on the bottom and assumes a muddy taste. In spite of this it is found in the markets of the area. It reaches a weieht of 40 pounds. On our West Coast the counterpart counter-part of this Yellowtail is probably the Yellowtail Snapper, Lutianus argentiventris. which is found' from the Gulf of California south to Ecuador being most abundant probably in the Panama area. The fore part of this fish is rose colored color-ed and the rear is vellow. A group of bl" Foots below the eve mav form :trak of varying definition. defini-tion. This fish reaches a length cf 2 feet. Ranging from Florida south to Brazil in the tlpntic is a fish commonh- called Yellowtail that is mmraon'v under a foot in length. This is the fish we show in our illustration. It is a blue trray in general color and shows lines and snots of vellow. The fins as thev show in the colored stamp issued nv the National Wildlife Federation Federa-tion in 1953 are vellow. The tail is deeply forked and the top of the head is devoid cf scales. There are some yellow spots on the upper hslf of the bodv. This fish is Ocyiirus chrysurus. Since it is relatively- common near shore in inlets and Ia?oons and since it feeds night or dav near te surface or at considerable depths and since it is freonentlv abundant, it is a popular fish with sportsmen. This fish should not be confused with the California Yellowtail, Seriola dorsalis. which is featured as a marine game fish in so much of our literature of the out-of-doors. The California Yellowtail ranees from Central California to Baja California and into the Gulf of California, It is rare north of Point Conception. It occurs in schools and when a sport fisherman gets into such a school with suitable bait and tackle he has a real holiday. |