FLOUNDERS OF GENITS PAKALICHTHYS AXD RELATED GENERA 



333 



usually with 3 or 4 <rill rakers, souu'tiines 5: lower 

 limb with 10 to 12. Anal rays 59 to 64; doi'sal 

 rays 76 to S3. Pectoral rays usually 12, frequently 

 11 (VI on both sides in 8 fish ; 11 on both sides in -2 ; 

 11 on blind side and 12 on eyed side in 3; 12 on 

 blind side 11 on eyed side in 1). Vertebrae 10 + 

 28 ( in 1 sjjecinien) . Orijjin of dorsal over anterior 

 mar<rin of jnipil at 30 mm., over space between 

 antei'ior mar^rin of eye and that of ]iupil in speci- 

 mens 36 to 45 mm., over anterior margin of eye, 

 varying slightly both ways, in specimens 96 to 

 370 mm. Maxillary reaching jiosteriorly to a 

 vertical through liind margin of pupil in speci- 

 mens 30 to 45 nmi., through posterior margin of 

 eye or nearly there in fish 96 to 370 mm. Body 

 conspicuously deep. Sinistral. 



Accessory scales. — Twelve specimens 30-120 

 mm., and one specimen 333 mm. virtually have no 

 accessory scales. After prolonged search with a 

 magnifier one such scale was found on one speci- 

 men each of 118 and 333 mm. Three specimens 

 342-370 mm. have accessorj' scales, but they are 

 few in number and rather widely spaced. Evi- 

 dently in this species the accessory scales develop 

 late in life and they are few in number. In this 

 character then. sqiuuitUcntus approaches the genus 

 Pseitdorhom iiis. 



Color. — Small specimens. 30 to 36 mm., with 

 five longitudinal rows of spots as described above 

 in the discussion of the generalized color pattern 

 (p. 277), fairly well outlined, not ocellated; body 

 characteristically sprinkled with pigment specks, 

 somewhat like the published figure of the type 

 specimen, suggesting a "fly specky" appearance, 

 the specks nearly confined to a broad area along 

 dorsal and ventral profile, area along miildle of 

 body virtually devoid of specks; a specimen of 

 333 mm. faintly showing non-ocellated spots in 

 the subdorsal and supra-anal rows, one of 370 mm. 

 without a trace of spots (other available speci- 

 mens faded) ; both large specimens having the 

 specks more mnnerous and crowded than the small 

 specimens, and the blind side moderately dusky. 



As compared with specimens of similar size, the 

 small specimens of sqiuimUentuii examined differ 

 from lethostigma and dentatus in not having the 

 well marked groups of chromatophores charac- 

 teristic of those two species, and from alblyutta 

 in the spots not being ocellated. 



Specimens examined. — Pensacola, Fla., one 

 specimen 120 mm., the type (30862); 1 specimen 

 100 mm. (30762) ; 5 specimens 96 to 118 mm. 

 (3258.5). Corpus Christi Pass, Tex.; collected by 

 John C. Pearson ; 3 specimens 30 to 36 mm.. March 

 23, 1927 (152881): 2 specimens 39 and 45 nun.. 

 Maich 30, 1927 ( 152882) . Off Santa Rosa Island, 

 Fla.; 105 fathoms; Stewart Springer; 2 speci- 

 mens 333-370 iinn. (152883). Tortugas, Fla.: 39 

 fatlioms: AV. H. Longley; 2 specimens 242 umi. 

 (117069). 



Geographic d/sfr/bvtion and hohitat. — Besides 

 the localities listed above from which specimens 

 were examined and the records by Norman and by 

 Longley. this species has also been recorded from 

 Egmont Key and Biscayne Bay, Fla., and Charles- 

 ton, S. C, as noted in the bibliography. However, 

 in view of the facts brought out by this investiga- 

 tion, the latter records need verification, although 

 the species quite possibly does occur in those lo- 

 calities. The chief character by which sqnami- 

 lenhis has been distinguished heretofore, was by 

 the increased number of scales, but a study of 

 table 1 shows that while this character is suilicient 

 to distinguish this species from aJbirruffa. the fre- 

 quency distribution of the number of scales nearly 

 falls within the range of dentatus, although aver- 

 aging higher in squamilentu.'t. and that it also 

 intei-grades with lethostigma. Especially the rec- 

 ord from South Carolina possibly might have been 

 based on a specimen of dentatus or of lethostigma 

 having a high scale count. Although this speci- 

 men was supposed to have been deposited in the 

 National INIuseum it was not found there during 

 this investigation. The pro[)er distinction of 

 squainilentU'S depends on a combination of char- 

 acters which must be studied in detail and with 

 exactitude, since each character when taken by 

 itself closely approaches or overlaps that of den- 

 tatv.'i or lethostigma. 



Specimens of this species are scarce in collec- 

 tions for the evitlent reason tliat it lives in deep 

 water. .Stewai-t Springer who pieserved two of 

 the large si«'ciinens forming the hasis of this ac- 

 count states in a letter that "it apparently is 

 abimdant in 80 to 120 fathoms and could po.ssibly 

 turn out to be of commercial importance." The 5 

 small specimens examined from Corpus Christi 

 were obtained inshore by John C. Pearson, ll may 

 be tentativelv concluded then, that the vouiiir fish 



