THE ESCOLARS Family XXXIII. Lepidopidaoe This family contains large, mackerel-like fishes with elongate body covered with minute scales. There are about 9 genera and 17 species, only 3 of which interest us. The first of these is Ruvettus pretiosus, a large, deep-water fish, generally valued as food in the tropics. It is abundant about Cuba and the Madeiras, and is often taken in the Mediterranean. It is also occasionally taken off the Grand Banks. Among the common names by which it is known are escolar, rovetto, ruvetto, chicolar, oilfish, scour-fish, and plainfish. It reaches a weight of 100 pounds. "The Cubans go 'a-scholaring' ('a escolarear') after the fishing for the spearfish has ceased and before that for the red snapper begins." The flesh is white and flaky, but soft and insipid in the Madeiras, according to Lowe, where its extreme oiliness makes it unwholesome. Another food species of this family is the rabbit-fish, conejo or Bermuda catfish (Promethichthys prometheus), a large voracious fish of the open sea, found about islands in the tropical Atlantic, chiefly in deep water. In this genus the ventral fin is reduced to a single spine.