OILBICRT AND ST.VUKS — FlSlliiS OF PANAMA llAV lOl 



Spiiuuis diMsal low, witli j^ciitly roiiiuleil DUtliiK-. Nolcli Ix-twec-n iiors;il.s sllallow, llic eli;vciuh 

 spine two-iliirils the Iciiijlli uf llic longest, wliicli is containeil 2 lo 2^ limes in head in the young, 

 3 times in adults. When declined, the spines are |xirtially received within a saily groove. SofldorsJil, 

 anal and cauilal with l>asal portions ilensely scaled, anil with series of sc-;iles running up on membrane 

 to beyond middle of lin. Soft dorsal and anal of eipial height, forming bluntly rounded lolx-s, the 

 longest rays of which are about half head in adults, i ,1 to i j in head in young. Third anal spine 

 about half length of k)ngest ray. Pectiprals shorter tiian \entrals, 2 to 2.\ in head; veiitrals i\ in head 

 in young, shorter in adults. 



.Scales less strongly ctenoid tiian in A. si/riiiaincns/s. Tubes of lateral line mostly simple, 

 occasionally with one to three branches. 



Color grayish or brownish, with |)lumbeous or silvery reflections. The youngest s|}ecimens 

 show faintly the dark streaks so conspicuous in young of A. siirinamcnsis, viz: a |>air running back- 

 wards from interorbital spice; a pair from upper posterior border of eye converging towards front of 

 dorsal; a broader band from eye ilownwards and backwards across cheeks. Soft dors;il, anal and caudal 

 uniform blackish, or the caudal with an ill-defined lighter edge. IVctorals translucent; ventrals 

 blackish. 



Aluiiulaiit at raiiaiiKi, wIutc it i.s known ;i.s Hunuydte. 



Family PRI ACANTII IDyE. 



182. Pseudopriacanthus serrula (GUbert). 



Only the ty[)u known, fioni Albatfoss Station 2797, Panama Bay, 33 fathoms 

 (Gilbert, 1890 b, p. 450). 



Family LUTIANID.E. 



183. Hoplopagrus guentheri 0111. 



Tliis species liail not ht-en taken previously farther sontii tiian Mazatlan. We 

 secureil one large specimen with dynamite among the rocky islands in the Bay. It 

 must be very rare at Panama. 



Lutianus. 



The characters relied upon to separate Neonuvnis, Lutianus, Genijoroge and 

 Evophit'S, seem wholly lacking in distinctive value. The band of temporal scales 

 may be narrow or wide, and may be i.solated or may be surrounded by bands of 

 smaller scales. AH degrees of scaling of top of head are found among the Asiatic 

 species, and considerable variation among the American members of the grou|). The 

 teinpoial ridge never joins the orbital rim, but terminates at varying distances 

 between that and the median crest. Its appro.ximation to the median crest depends 

 in part upon its production anteriorly, and this is in many species a question of age. 

 No groups can be separateil by this character, uor can the natural allinities of the 

 S|)ecies be determined by its aid. A third character is derived froiu the emargina- 

 tion of the preopercle, into which may lit a knob of the interopercle. Most Amer- 

 ican species have this weakly developed or absent, but L. jorchiui forms an obvious 

 transition between the two conditions, and this will doubtless be made more complete 

 by an examination of the Asiatic forms. Lutianus (Evoplites) viridis is evidently 

 the descendant of an Asiatic form, and has the notch and knob strongly developed. 



, H I November 28, ISOJ. 



