FLOIXDERS OF GENUS PARALICHTHYS AND HKLATED GENERA 



325 



sity of the shadings on the bo<ly to :u<;onl with 

 its background as has been shown experimentally 

 by Mast (191()). However, the three character- 

 istii-ally placed, ])roininent. more or less ocellated 

 spots are usually plainly evident as may be seen 

 by examining some of the jdates published by the 

 author. 



The color pattern of nlhiijiittd and <h ntafiis are 

 nearly alike. There is a difference in the color of 

 the two species, but the difference is more a matter 

 of relative intensity of pigmentation. In dentatus 

 the ocellated spots ai'e generally more numerous. 

 In ulhigufta, in the great majority of specimens, 

 only three ocellated spots are present forming 

 the large triangle, the spots forming the small 

 triangle being absent or faint. In dentatus the 

 large triangle is also present, but the spots form- 

 ing the small triangle are usually the most 

 prominent. 



In young fish examined, the three characteristic 

 ocellated spots forming the large triangle are dis- 

 tinct in those as small as 17 mm. and resemble 

 those of the adults. The aggregations of coarse 

 chromatophores overlaying the blotches which are 

 present in Jcthostigiua and dentatu.s are absent or 

 very sparsely developed in alhigutta. The other 

 spots on the body are already present in fish 

 between 17 and 30 mm. in the form of small specks 

 in five longitudinal rows, becoming large and 

 diffuse in fish over 30 mm. 



Specimens examined. — South Atlantic Coast 

 (3(180:2). North Carolina (A. M. X. H. 3296). 

 Cape Lookout (A. M. N. H. 4381 and 5280) and 

 Beaufort (93.512: A. ^L X. H. 1883; many speci- 

 mens from the collection of the U. S. Bureau of 

 Fisheries Biological Station), N. C. Coosaw 

 River. S. C. (93.513). Florida (4887: U. S. and 

 ^Mexican Boundary Survey ; the specimen recorded 

 as alhigutta in a table of measurements by Goode 

 and Bean, 1879). Key West, Fla., (specimens col- 

 lected by the staff of the Fisheries Biological Sta- 

 tion: inseparably mixed with those from Beau- 

 fort). Southern Florida (A. M. X. H. 2897). 

 Southwest Florida (A. M. N. H. 2445). West 

 Florida (5156). Caxambas (A. M. X. H. 2544), 

 Tampa Bay (S4041). Cedar Keys (35085). Apa^ 

 lachicola Bay (collected by me), and Pensacola 

 (30818 collected in Laguna Grande by S. Stearns, 

 Jordan and Gilbert's type of alhigutta; 30191; 

 30698; 30842; specimens collected by me). Fla. 



Off Hrcloii Island. La. (collected by .Stewart 

 Spiinger). Harbor Island, Hog Island, and 

 ( oi'piis Ciiristi Pass, Tex., (coiict'Ied ijy John C. 

 Pearson). Total number of si)ecimens studied in 

 detail for the meristic characters 111 : numy more 

 examined to verify con.clnsions: thos*' examined 

 ranging 17-389 mm. 



Geographic distritiufiott and hahitat. — The 

 range of the specimens examined extends fi-oin 

 Cape Lookout, X'. C, to Corpus Ciiristi Pass. Tex., 

 and this represents the extremes of its range, as 

 now established, having been known previously 

 from Beaufort, X'. C, to Pensacola. Fla. The 

 range of the species is continuous with respect to 

 geogi aphico-zonal variations in the enviromnent 

 and includes the semitropical surroundings at the 

 southern tip of Florida. On the other hand, its 

 range seems to be discontimious with respect to 

 the natui-e of the bottom. This species prefers 

 hard or saiuly bottoms, and where long stretches 

 of coast having a mud bottom occur, it is either 

 absent or rare. For instance, in my investigations 

 during 1930. iii 5 weeks of intensive and almost 

 daily collecting on the coast of Louisiana, chiefly 

 in the immediate vicinity of Grand Isle and ex- 

 tending from Bastian Island to Isle Derniere, 

 during late June, July, and early August, not a 

 single specimen of alhigutta was obtained, while, 

 at the same time, lethoxtigma was abundant and 

 the majority of trawl landings yielded some speci- 

 mens of the latter species. Soon after leaving 

 Grand Isle and going to Pensacola about the mid- 

 dle of August, the first three flounders obtained 

 there while seining in Big Lagoon, were P. alhi- 

 gutta. The bottom in the latter body of water 

 consists largely of fine white sand, while on the 

 coast of Louisiana, between the points indicated 

 above, the bottom is chiefly of blue mud. The 

 apparent conclusion which may be drawn from 

 these observations is that the sjiecies prefers a 

 sandy bottom. 



This conclusion was further corroborated dur- 

 ing 1932 by observations made in Apalachicola 

 Bay, Fla. That body of water has long streii'hes 

 of hard or .sand bottom altei'iiated with a nnnl 

 bottom, and is a favoi-able location for a study of 

 the difference in habitat of alhigutta and letho- 

 xtigma. Specimens of Paralichthgx obtained 

 there on a hard bottom are chiefly alhigutta and 

 those on a nnid bottom ai'c largely lethostigma. 



