200 FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM ZOOLOGY, VOL. V. 



79. Pomadasys Lace"pede. 

 BURROS. 



Pomadasis Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 516, 1803. (Type, Pom- 

 adasis argentalus Lacepede.) 



Rhoncisciis Jordan & Evermann, Check-List, Fishes 387, 1896. 

 (Type, Pristipoma crocro Cuv. & Val.) 



Body oblong, somewhat compressed; mouth rather small, ter- 

 minal, low, maxillary scarcely reaching eye; premaxillaries protrac- 

 tile; teeth on jaws only, in villiform bands; cheeks and opercles scaly; 

 preopercle serrate, the serrae below not turned forward; suprascapula 

 serrate; scales large, those above lateral line in series parallel with it; 

 dorsal fin emarginate; second anal spine very strong. 



Some of these fishes when taken from the water make a loud, snore- 

 like sound very much like the noise of a burro or donkey . 



KEY TO THE SPECIES OF POMADASYS. 



a. Second anal spine not reaching tip of soft rays, PAGE 



its length i^ in head"; mouth large, maxillary 

 reaching to pupil, af in head. 



b. Scales small, 65 in the lateral series starri 200 



bb. Scales larger, 56 in the lateral series bayanus 201 



aa. Second anal spine reaching beyond tips of soft 

 rays, its length i^ in head; mouth small, max- 

 illary not reaching to anterior margin of orbit, 

 its length 3^3 in head templei 201 



Subgenus Rhonciscus Jordan & Evermann. 

 189. Pomadasys starri sp. nov. BURRO. 



Type, No. 4693, F. C. M., \\ l /z inches in length; Perez, Vera Cruz. 



Head 3; depth 3$-; D. xm, 1.2; A. in, 7; scales 9-65-17. Body 

 elongate, compressed; ventral outline nearly straight; back arched; 

 profile slightly concave above the eyes, convex at nape; head pointed; 

 snout bluntish; mouth rather large, low, its gape horizontal; jaws sub- 

 equal; maxillary reaching slightly past vertical from anterior margin 

 of pupil, its length 2^ in head; teeth villiform, a few in upper jaw 

 enlarged; eye large, its diameter 4^ in head; snout 3 in head; pre- 

 opercle strongly serrate; origin of dorsal slightly behind origin of 

 pectoral; dorsal fin deeply notched, longest dorsal spine 2^ in head; 

 second anal spine strong, its tip not reaching to tips of soft rays, its 

 length i^ in head; caudal fin emarginate, the upper lobe the longer; 

 least depth of caudal peduncle 3^ in the head; soft dorsal and anal 



