30 PAPERS FROM TORTUGAS LABORATORY vol. xxxiv 



compressed body, its sides being nearly vertical. The dorsal has about 24 rays, 

 and the anal 25. 



North Carolina, probably to Brazil; also reported from the Pacific. S. F. H. 



Family HEMIRAMPHIDAE. Halfbeaks 

 Hemiramphus brasiliensis (Linnaeus) 



One of the predominantly green and silver surface fishes of open water, often 

 swimming in small schools. It may be identified at a distance by the reddish 

 upper caudal lobe. Not rare among scraps from the tern rookery, where a packet 

 of 2 and one of 3 were found all similarly oriented, closely adhering, and lying 

 as they were dropped by birds feeding their young, reflecting the fish's gregarious 

 habit. 



All fresh specimens were taken at the surface, about a submerged light at 

 night, in the local 10-fathom channels and in 8 to 12 fathoms west or south of 

 Loggerhead Key. 



Florida to Brazil. W. H. L. 



Hyporhamphus unifasciatus (Ranzani) 



This species apparently is not mentioned in Dr. Longley's notes. His collection 

 contains a juvenile, however, 39 mm. long from tip of upper jaw to base of 

 caudal. Because of its immaturity and faded condition the specific identification 

 is somewhat uncertain. Those characters that can be checked are correct for this 

 species. The dorsal, which begins slightly in advance of the anal, has 16 rays, the 

 anal 15. These counts are rather too high for Hemiramphus brasiliensis, which 

 has 13 rays in the dorsal and only 11 in the anal in the single specimen in the 

 Tortugas collection. This juvenile, though greatly faded, has four dark bars on 

 the side, the first being under the tip of the pectoral and the last at the origin of 

 the anal. The bars are regarded as juvenile characters, which the adult does not 

 possess. 



Breder (Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. 435, 1932, p. 20) stated, "A species nearly 

 as common as the preceding [Hemiramphus brasiliensis}, along the Florida 

 Keys." 



Both coasts of America, on the Atlantic from about Rhode Island to Brazil. 



S.F.H. 

 Euleptorhamphus velox Poey 



Seen occasionally to spring up beneath a boat's bow and skitter over the water 

 on its side with head elevated, body flexed, and tail fluttering. It is not uncom- 

 mon about Tortugas, as 40 or more have been noticed in waste from the tern 

 rookeries. 



In 12 specimens examined, the dorsal had twice 21, four times 22, and six times 

 23 rays; the anal, similarly, had once 20, six times 22, and twice 23 rays. The type 

 examined in the Museum of Comparative Zoology (no. 8779) had 22 rays in the 

 dorsal and the same number in the anal. 



West Indies and northward in the Gulf Stream. W. H. L. 



