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FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



Figure 97. — Caranx dentex juvenile, 89.5 mm. standard length (AMNH 19994). 



literation of Linnaeus' cordyla, although the spec- 

 imen described by Bonnaterre may have been 

 C. dentex. In synonymizing C. dentex (Bloch and 

 Schneider) with Bonnaterre's description, Jordan 

 and Evermann (1896: 926) lifted the vernacular 

 name to apply to the species, calling it Caranx 

 guara (Bonnaterre). This was pointed out by 

 Dr. John C. Briggs, University of Florida, in a 

 personal communication and by Padoa, in Padoa 

 etal. (1956: 554). 



Nichols (1951: 4) placed Caranx cheilio Snyder 

 in the synonymy of C. dentex (under the name of 

 C. guara), and specifically distinguished these from 

 C. georgianus Cuvier (= C. chilensis Gay). 



Recent authors have used Caranx ascensionis 

 (Osbeck) as Fowler (1936: 699) or C. adscensionis 

 (Osbeck) as Smith (1949: 215), to designate this 

 species. Jordan and Evermann (1896: 926) in- 

 cluded Scomber adscensionis Osbeck 1771 in ques- 

 tionable synonymy of C. dentex, under the name 

 of C. guara, and stated that Osbeck's description 

 might apply to Selar crumenophthalmus (Bloch) 

 or C. ruber. I have not seen Osbeck's descrip- 

 tion, but according to Fowler (1936: 701) Osbeck 

 gives the following characters: "Dorsal VIII-25; 

 anal 25; pectoral 20; ventral 5; scutes 27, 49. 

 Body narrow. Head obtuse. Mouth oblong, 

 lower jaw longer. Teeth small. Pectoral bent. 

 Ventral half of pectoral. Body grayish above, 

 white below. Length 304 mm." This insufficient 

 description cannot specifically designate any spe- 

 cies of carangid. Instead, the identical number 

 of dorsal and anal soft-rays, admittedly a possible 

 miscount, discredits any possible identity with 

 the genus Caranx. Published accounts and my 

 observations indicate that Caranx species always 



have more dorsal soft-rays than anal soft-rays 

 (from 2 to 5 more in Western North Atlantic 

 species) . 

 Material 



Four specimens were examined (the smallest 

 that could be located): 87 mm., 89.5 mm., 108 

 mm., and 132 mm., AMNH 19990, 19991, and 

 19994, from Bermuda. The following brief de- 

 scriptions apply mainly to these specimens. 

 Measurements are recorded on the graphs with 

 cry sos, the species they most closely resemble 

 meristically. 



Two specimens of bartholomaei from Boca 

 Chica, Key West, Fla., ANSP 70973-74, at least 

 one of which was identified as dentex (under the 

 name of guara) by Fowler (1945: 292, fig. 307), 

 and two specimens of bartholomaei from north- 

 west of Cay Sal Bank, ANSP 72693, which Fowler 

 (1950: 70, fig. 3) identified as dentex (under the 

 name of guara), are discussed under bartholomaei 

 (p. 472).' 



Three specimens reported as young dentex from 

 New Orleans by Gunther (1860: 441) are not 

 this species, but are probably ruber and are 

 discussed under that species (p. 458). 



Characters 



Dorsal spines. — VIII and I. The third spine is 

 the longest. Lengths of the third spine are shown 

 in figure 25. The first and second dorsal fins are 

 not connected by an interspinous membrane. 



Anal spines. — II and I. The second spine is 

 longer than the first. The second and third 

 spines are not connected by an interspinous mem- 

 brane. 



Dorsal soft-rays. — 25 or 26 (fig. 1). Bean 



