Munroe: Western Atlantic tonguefishes of the Symphurus plagusia complex 



249 



South America, the possibility exists of any combina- 

 tion of four species being considered in the accounts. 

 Since many of these earliest studies of Caribbean fishes 

 considered only shore-zone fishes, much of this litera- 

 ture is discussed under the account of S. plagusia, one 

 of the more widely distributed shallow-water species, 

 and the one first named in the complex. Most refer- 

 ences from extreme southern South America pertain- 

 ing to shallow-water tonguefishes possessing 12 caudal 

 fin rays refer to S. tessellatus and are included in the 

 synonymy of that species. Synonymies for the remain- 

 ing species include only those studies from which I 

 examined specimens. 



Abbreviations of institutions 



Institutions providing study material, or in which type 

 material is deposited are: 



ALA Museum of Natural History, University of Ala- 

 bama, University 

 ANSP Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 

 BMNH British Museum of Natural History, London 

 CAS-SU California Academy of Sciences, San Fran- 

 cisco 

 FMNH Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago 

 GCRL Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean 



Springs 

 IMS Marine Sciences Institute, University of Texas 



at Austin, Port Aransas 

 LACM Natural History Museum of Los Angeles 



County, Los Angeles 

 MCP Museu de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidade 



Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 

 MCZ Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 



University, Cambridge 

 MHNN Musee d'Histoire Naturelle de Neuchatel, 



Neuchatel 

 MNHN Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 

 TCWC Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection, Texas 



A&M University, College Station 

 TU Department of Zoology, Tulane University, New 



Orleans 

 UF Florida State Museum, University of Florida, 



Gainesville 

 UFPB Departamento de Sistematica e Ecologia, Uni- 

 versidade Federal da Paraiba, Joao Pessoa 

 UMML Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric 



Sciences, University of Miami, Miami 

 UMMZ Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, 



Ann Arbor 

 UPRM University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez 

 USA University of South Alabama, Mobile 

 USNM National Museum of Natural History, Smith- 

 sonian Institution, Washington, DC 

 ZMA Zoologisch Museum, Universiteit van 



Amsterdam 



Artificial key to Western Atlantic 



members of the Symphurus plagusia complex 



la Large black spot on outer margin of ocular-side opercle; dorsal fin rays 91-107; anal fin rays 



77-89; total vertebrae 50-55 2 



lb No obvious black spot on ocular-side opercle; dorsal fin rays 86-97; anal fin rays 70-81; total 



vertebrae 46-51 3 



2a 4-8 small ctenoid scales on blind side of posterior rays of dorsal and anal fins; ocular-side lower 

 jaw without fleshy ridge on posterior portion; jaws reaching only to rear margin of pupil or rear 

 margin of eye; crossbands wide, usually nine or less; posterior third of dorsal and anal fins without 

 alternating series of pigment blotches and unpigmented areas, usually becoming increasingly 

 darker posteriorly (black in mature males); dorsal fin rays 91-102; anal fin rays 77-86; total 

 vertebrae usually 50-53. (Caribbean Sea to Uruguay) S. tessellatus (Quoy and Gaimard) 



2b No ctenoid scales on blind side of posterior rays of dorsal and anal fins; ocular-side lower jaw 

 usually with pronounced fleshy ridge on posterior portion; jaws reaching rear margin of lower 

 eye or extending slightly posterior to rear margin of lower eye; crossbands narrow, usually 10-14; 

 dorsal and anal fins with alternating series of blotches and unpigmented areas, usually not becom- 

 ing darker posteriorly; dorsal fin rays 99-106; anal fin rays 81-88; total vertebrae usually 53-54. 

 (Guyana to northern Brazil) S. oculellus new species 



