196 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



destroy parts of the rays and other parts of the 



fins. 



Status of Trachinotus argenteus 



Ginsburg (1952: p. 82) considered Trachinotus 

 argenteus Cuvier synonymous with T. carolinus, 

 and I agree. 



The original description, translated by DeKay 

 (1842: p. 116), is as follows: 



The Silvery Trachinote 



Trachinotus argenteus 



Characteristics. Silvery. Height to its length as one to 

 two. 5-6 dorsal spines, and one recumbent, directed 

 forwards. Length six inches. 



Description. Body elevated; its height being one-half 

 the head and body alone, without including the lobes of 

 the tail, which are more than one-fourth the total length. 

 Lateral line irregular, with five or six shght undulations. 

 Five and sometimes six free spines on the back, without 

 including the recumbent spine in front, nor that which 

 adheres to the dorsal. The rays of the dorsal and anal 

 exceed in number most of their congeners. The points of 

 the dorsal and anal, when lying supine, reach only half the 

 length of these fins. The limb of the preopercle with 

 slightly elevated radiating lines, and oblique striae on the 

 base of the opercle. Teeth minute, equal and velvet-like. 

 Vertebrae compressed, twenty-three. The recumbent 

 spine is a part of the third interspinous. 



Color. Silvery, with blackish at the elongated tips of 

 the dorsal, and on the middle of the pectoral. 



Length, 6.0. 



Fin rays, D.5 or 6 . 1 . 24; P . 18; V. 1 . 5; A . 2 . 1 . 21 ; 

 C . 17 8/8. 



Jordan (1887: p. 531), referring to the type, 

 stated that "It may stand as Trachinotus 

 carolinus." 



Various authors difTerentiate between T. caro- 

 linus and T. argenteus on the basis of depth, with 

 T. argenteus having a depth of 2 into standard 



length and T. carolinus a depth of about 2^ to 



2% into standard length. 

 stated — 



Bean (1903: p. 443) 



There is still some question whether or not the argenteus 

 of Cuvier and Valenciennes is the young of T. carolinus 

 (Linnaeus) . If we consider them identical we must assume 

 that the very young, say from 1 inch to 2 inches long, are 

 much more elongate than when they reach the length of 

 3 inches. 



Ginsburg (1952: p. 81, table XV; p. 82) has 

 shown that T. carolinus with depths greater than 

 50% S.L. are foimd in a size range of about 

 66-274 mm. My findings coincide with his except 

 that my depth percentages are slightly less. This 

 is no doubt because of a difference in method of 

 measurement. One 182-mm. specimen examined 

 in this study has a depth 55% S.L. It is identical 

 to the typical T. carolinus in every respect but 

 depth. 



TRACHINOTUS FALCATUS (LINNAEUS) 



Trachinotus falcatus, the round ponipano (figs. 

 8-13), is a widely distributed and fairly common 

 species. The Florida fishery produced a total 

 of 98,503 pounds of "permit," presumably this 

 species, during 1955-58, valued at about $10,288 

 (Anderson and Power, 1957; Bureau of Com- 

 mercial Fisheries, 1959; Power, 1958 and 1959). 



Knowledge of the life history of T. falcatus is 

 meager. Since the species is generally not so 

 plentiful nor as commercially important as T. 

 carolinus, it seemingly has failed to attract com- 

 parable attention. 



Spawning 



Four offshore specimens identified as this 

 species were taken during the operations of the 



Figure 8. — T. falcatus, 5.0 mm. (Gill cruise 3, regular station 63). 



