94. L ABRIDGE XYEICHTHYS. 605 



321. XYRICHTHYS Cuvier & Valenciennes. 



Razor '-fishes. 

 (Cuv. & Val. Hist. Nat. Poiss. xiv, 33, 1839: type Coryphcena novacula L.) 







Body oblong, compressed, deepest behind the occiput, thence tapering 

 backward. Head very short and deep; the profile almost vertical; the 

 upper and anterior outlines compressed to an edge, at least in typical 

 species. Preorbital very deep. Eyes high, near the top of the head. 

 Mouth small, low. No posterior canines. Cheeks and opercles naked, 

 or with ouly a few very small scales below the eye. Scales large, with 

 membranaceous edges; less than thirty in a longitudinal series; lateral 

 line interrupted behind, commencing again lower down on the caudal 

 peduncle. Dorsal fin continuous, with nine spines. Colors brilliant. 

 Tropical seas, (zupov, razor; l%0u<;, fish.) 



951. X. vermiculatus Poey. 



Head greenish, tinged with orange on the side; seven or eight blue 

 stripes along the cheeks; three on the opercles; body brownish, paler 

 below; each scale with a blue A r ertical baud and sometimes some blue 

 spots; toward the end of the pectoral is a broad violet band on the 

 sides; dorsal and anal carmine red with blue vertical lines, paler on the 

 front of the dorsal; caudal blue, with vermilion bauds; pectorals white; 

 ventrals rosy. Head very short, deeper than long, the front compressed, 

 sharp, almost vertical. Preorbital very deep, its depth half the length 

 of the head. Eye small, placed very high, its distance from the profile 

 scarcely greater than its diameter; four small scales below the eye. 

 Two canines in front of each jaw. Dorsal spines low, flexible ; ven- 

 trals rather long; pectorals short. Head 4; depth 3. D. IX, 12; A. 

 Ill, 11; scales 2-27-8. West Indies, north to Key West, Fla.; very 

 similar to the European X. novacula (L.) Cuv. & Val., if not identical 

 with it. 



(Poey Memorias Cuba, ii, 215, 1858.) 



952. X. lineatus Cuv. & Val. Eazor-fish. 



Eose-red; a large oblong blotch on each side of the belly, below the 

 pectorals; narrow lines descend from these blotches, meeting on the 

 belly. The two anterior dorsal spines flexible, not produced. Outer 

 ventral ray prolonged, not reaching vent. D. IX, 12; A. Ill, 12; Lat. 

 1. 25. (GilntJier.) West Indies; occasional on our Southern coasts. 



(Cuvier & Valenciennes, xiv, 50, 1839: Novacula lineata Giinther, iv, 171.) 



