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FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



respects, and we regard Alutera monoceros as a 

 species of worldwide occurrence. Comparisons of 

 specimens from the western North Atlantic with 

 specimens from Brazil, South Africa, and the 

 Pacific coast of Panama show slight differences in 

 contour and depth, but we attribute this to indi- 

 vidual variation and perhaps varj'^ing rates of 

 ontogeny in different geographical areas. 



Diagnostic characters. — Dorsal spines, 2. Dorsal 

 soft rays, 46 to 50 ; anal soft rays, 47 to 52 (table 1) . 

 Pectoral spine, 1 rudimentary. Pectoral soft rays, 

 14 (table 11). Pelvic spine, rudimentary and not 

 movable (as Alutera heudelotii in fig. 5), absent in 

 large specimens. Gill slit, oblique at an angle of 

 about 45° to horizontal to body axis (as in fig. 4). 

 First dorsal spine, inserted over middle or posterior 

 part of eye (as in fig. 4) . No deep groove behind 

 dorsal spines. Body depth, 34.4 to 43.8% S.L. 

 (table 12; fig. 35). Head length, 26.6 to 34.7% 

 S.L. (table 13). Snout length, 23.4 to 27.5% S.L. 

 (table 14). Eye diameter, 4.2 to 8.3% S.L. (table 

 15). Eye to dorsal spine distance, 7.0 to 8.6% 

 S.L. (table 16). Caudal peduncle longer than 

 deep; peduncle length into peduncle depth 0.65 

 to 0.95 times. Caudal fin relatively short, about 

 18 to 26% S.L. 



Specimens examined. — From the western North 

 Atlantic: 10 of 53 to 545 mm. S.L., from southern 

 Massachusetts, the Carolinas, eastern Florida, and 

 the Florida Keys (fig. 38). 



Alutera scripta (Osbeck) 1765 



(Figures 9, 19, 20, and 22) 



This species has usually been regarded as of 

 worldwide distribution. We have examined spec- 

 imens from Hawaii, Okinawa, and the Pacific 

 coast of Panama that appear to be identical with 

 our western Atlantic material. Whitley (1952: 

 p. 30) attempted to limit the Atlantic population 

 under the name of Osheckia picturata (Poey) 1863. 



The brief description of Batistes scriptus that has 

 been assigned to this species was m a publication 

 by Osbeck (1757: p. Ill) that predates nomen- 

 clatorial acceptabilit3^ Linnaeus did not record 

 this name in the tenth edition of his Systema 

 Naturae, although he did include (1758: p. 327) 

 the listing of Osbeck's Balistes monoceros from the 

 preceding page of Osbeck's book (1757: p. 110). 

 The fu-st nomenclatorially acceptable publication 

 of the name scripta is in a translation of Osbeck's 



1757 book from Swedish to German hy J. G. 

 Georgi in 1765 (p. 145). Since Georgi apparently 

 made a direct translation without any emenda- 

 tions, we do not consider him as the author of 

 Osbeck's names and descriptions. 



Diagnostic characters. — ^Dorsal spines, 2. Dor- 

 sal soft rays, 43 to 49; anal soft rays, 46 to 52 

 (table 2). Pectoral spine, 1 rudimentary. Pec- 

 toral soft rays, 13-15 (table 11). Pelvic spine, 

 rudimentary and not movable (as Alutera heudelotii 

 in fig. 5), absent in large specunens. Gill slit, 

 oblique at an angle of about 45° to horizontal 

 body axis on specimens larger than 40 mm. S. L. 

 (as in fig. 4). First dorsal spine, inserted over 

 middle or posterior part of eye (as in fig. 4). No 

 deep groove behind dorsal spines. Body depth, 

 21.5 to 35.0% S.L. (table 12; fig. 35). Head length, 

 29.3 to 33.9% S. L. (table 13). Snout length, 

 21.9 to 28.8% S. L. (table 14). Eye diameter, 

 5.3 to 9.1% S. L. (table 15). Eye to dorsal spine 

 distance, 5.0 to 6.7% S. L. (table 16). Caudal 

 peduncle deeper than long on specunens larger 

 than 30 mm. S. L. ; peduncle length into peduncle 

 depth 1.24 to 1.60 tunes on specimens larger than 

 50 mm. S. L., 1.03 to 1.05 times on specinaens of 

 31 to 46 mm. S. L., 0.86 on a 27-mm. S. L. speci- 

 men. Caudal fin relatively long, about 33 to 

 61% S. L. 



Specimens examined. — From the western North 

 Atlantic: 48 of 27 to 377 mm. S. L. (skin and skull 

 examined of a specunen about 410 mm. S. L.) 

 from Bermuda, off the North Carolina coast, 

 southward around Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico, 

 and the Caribbean (fig. 38). 



Color. — In live specunens taken off North Caro- 

 lina in September 1959, the scrawled markings 

 and spots were dark green and the background 

 color was mottled olive-brown. This color fades 

 and may disappear upon preservation, but the 

 pigmentation in the markings and spots remains 

 dark on most specimens even after prolonged 

 preservation. 



Alutera schoepfii (Walbaum) 1792 



(Figures 10, 11, 23, and 24) 



This species is extremely variable in certain 

 morphological characters. Early in the study 

 when we had only a few specimens, it appeared 

 that two forms existed, one of which we would 

 have called Alutera punctata (Cuvier) in Spix, 



