RUDDER FISHES IN THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC 



465 



piirallel and luljaceiit to the rays. The spots are 

 present on the spinous-dorsal and anal fins and 

 around the bases of the dorsal soft-rays. On the 

 sides there are many pigment spots ranging; from 

 hrown to black. Most of tlie larger spots have 

 many narrow rays of pigment radiating out from 

 each spot. The largest spots occur on the upper 

 lialf of the side. Tlie area over tlie gut cavity has 

 spots larger than those on the rest of the lower half 

 of the side, but smaller than those above. A 

 straight line of black dashes under tlie surface lies 

 on the middle of the side, at and just forward of 

 the caudal peduncle; they arc more visible on 

 specimens preserved for an extended period of time 

 (see fig. 7, 9.8 nun.). 



By about 10 mm., the blotched gray pigment 

 has become more distinct on the fresher specimens, 

 however, the areas of pigment are about the same. 

 The specimens, at this size, preserved for an ex- 



tended time have slightly smaller dark spots than 

 do the smaller fish (fig. 7). 



On fresh specimens from about 11 to slightly 

 longer than 13 mm., the gray pigment is more 

 uniform (fig. 9A), which may be due to alternating 

 color patterns like those found in K. sectatrix 

 (Townsend, 1929). The pigment on the dorsal, 

 anal, and pelvic fins is much dariver than on most 

 other parts. There still is no pigment on the 

 caudal fin and little on the pectorals. Tiie pig- 

 ment on the soft dorsal ranges from none to some 

 around the first three soft-rays. The preserved 

 specimens of this size are similar to the fresh 

 except that the gray is now brown. In the more 

 faded condition, the dark spots are more pro- 

 nounced than in the fresh condition, but not so 

 distinct as in the smaller faded fish. 



By about 15 mm., some specimens have pigment 

 spots extending beyond the middle of the caudal 



Figure 9. — Kyphosus incisor; A, juvenile, 13.2 mm. (preserved for 3 months) : B, juvenile, 17.G nmi. (preserved for 2 years) ; 

 C, juvenile, 21.2 mm. (preserved for 9 months); D, juvenile, 33.6 mm. (preserved for 3 years); E, juvenile, 54.5 mm. 

 (preserved for 7 years); F, adult, 252.0 mm. (preserved for 74 years). 



