88. SPARID.E. 545 



eye. Head completely scaled. Eye about one-half length of head, more 

 than 6 times width of preorbital. Ventrals long, reaching front of anal ; 

 pectorals small, not longer than eye. Lateral line following the curve of 

 the back. Head 3; depth 2f. D. X, 14; A. Ill, 15; Lat. 1. 85. West 



Indies; occasional on our coast. 

 (Cuv. & Val. iii, 95; Gunther, i, 215.) 



aa. Body not twice as long as deep; scales large. (Pseudopriacantlius Bleeker.) 



859. P. altws Gill. 



Nearly uniform orange-red in life; vertical fins dotted with black; 

 ventrals black. Body oblong, compressed and elevated. Profile very 

 oblique; snout extremely short; gape of mouth very oblique, maxillary 

 reaching to below orbit. Eye about one-half length of head. Spines 

 stouter than in P. macrophtlialnms. Scales much larger and rougher. 

 Lateral line running obliquely upwards in front, then abruptly turning 

 downwards. Ventrals large, extending beyond origin of anal. Pre- 

 opercle and opercle coarsely serrate at angle and on lower limb ; angle 

 of preopercle with 2 spines, upper limb simply roughened. Caudal fin 

 rounded. Head2; depth 1J. D. X, 11; A. Ill, 9; Lat. 1. 45. Coast 

 of New England ; not common. 



(Priacantltus altus Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1662, 132.) 



FAMILY LXXXVIIL SPARID^.* 



(The Spar old Fishes.) 



Body oblong, more or less elevated, covered with moderate-sized ad- 

 herent scales, which are generally more or less strongly ctenoid, some- 

 times almost cycloid ("sparoid"). Head large, the skull often with 

 traces of the cavernous structure seen in Scicenidce. No suborbital stay. 

 Mouth moderate or large, terminal, low, nearly horizontal. Premaxil- 

 laries protractile; maxillary without supplemental bone, for its whole 

 length, slipping into a sheath formed by the edge of the broad preorbital ; 

 teeth villiform, cardiform, incisor-like or molar ; canines sometimes pres- 

 ent ; vomer, palatines, and tongue with or without teeth ; gills 4, a large 

 slit behind the fourth; pseudobranchire large; gill-rakers moderate; 

 branchiostegals 4-7 ; gill-membranes separate, free from the isthmus. 

 Edge of preopercle serrated or entire ; opercle usually without spines ; 

 sides of head generally scaly. Dorsal fin continuous or deeply notched, 



* Including 87 Pristipomalidce, and 88 Sparidce of the artificial key to families, on 

 page 77. 



Bull. Nat. Mus. No. 16 35 



