FISHES NEW TO THE FAUNA OF PORTO RICO, WITH 

 DESCRIPTIONS OF EIGHT NEW SPECIES, 



BY CHARLES F. SILVESTER. 



Little more than half of the known species of West Indian fishes 

 have been recorded from Porto Rico. Since the work of Evermann 

 and Marsh, 1 Nichols 2 has added 22 species to the fauna of the island. 

 Two of these were new to science. 



In May and June 1915, the writer spent three weeks on the island 

 as a member of an expedition to Porto Rico under the auspices of the 

 Carnegie Institution of Washington. The results of this work are to 

 be incorporated with a more extensive investigation of the fishes of the 

 island, but it seems best at this time to publish, at least, descriptions 

 of the new species. 



It is with pleasure that the writer acknowledges his indebtedness 

 to Dr. Henry W. Fowler for much valuable assistance and supervision 

 in working up the collections. Through the courtesy of the Academy 

 of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia comparisons have been made with 

 specimens in their collections. 



MORINGUID^E. 



Aphthalmichthys mayeri sp. nov. Plate 1. 



Head 9.2 in body; 4.2 in tail; 13.4 in total length. Depth same as upper 

 jaw, 5 in length of head, about 65 in total length; snout 7 in head. Lower jaw 

 projecting; anterior nostril tube-like, near end of snout; posterior nostril larger, 

 in front of eye. Teeth retrorse; eye small but not rudimentary. Interorbital 

 space two-thirds length of snout. Vertebrae 74+46. Spinous processes 

 prominent anteriorly; transverse processes large throughout. Gill-opening 

 one-half the isthmus, which is the same as snout. Gape not as wide as in 

 A . caribbeus. All the fins very rudimentary, microscopic, excepting caudal ; 

 pectoral less than one-half width of gill-opening; dorsal and anal begin length 

 of head behind vent and continue as very fine lines to end of tail, where they 

 enlarge into the easily visible caudal. Lateral line present and prominent, 

 with series of microscopic, open pores; blood-vessel follows course of and 

 shows through skin on lateral line. 



Color in life orange-yellow above; ventral surface slate-blue, merging into 

 whitish in anterior part of tail region; posterior part of tail entirely yellow; 

 iris blue. Tip of lower jaw and area behind eye reddish, fading to pale flesh- 

 color in spirits. Color in A. caribbeus much darker in spirit preparations. 



In a preliminary list of "Fishes New to the Fauna of Porto Rico," published 

 in Year Book 14 of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the writer was in 

 error in placing this species in the family Mursenesocidse and in making it the 

 subject of a new genus. As Gill and Smith have shown (Science, n. s., vol. 

 xi, No. 286), the genus Stilbiscus is identical with the genus Moringua and 



'Aquatic Resources and Fisheries of Porto Rico, U. S. Fish Commission Bulletin for 1900. 

 2 Blletin of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. xxxiv, article vu, pp. 141-146. 



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