i 9 4i CATALOGUE OF FISHES OF TORTUGAS 5 



recorded by Jordan and Thompson (Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., vol. 24, 1904 (1905), 

 p. 232). The adults have not been observed at Tortugas. 

 Tropical Atlantic, ranging northward to the middle Atlantic states. S. F. H. 



Tarpon atlanticus (Cuvier and Valenciennes). Tarpon 



Seen sometimes about the east lighthouse dock and the shoals south of it; not 

 uncommon about Fort Jefferson. It forages among refuse from the galley, and 

 large ones sometimes herd schooling Harengula or Anchoviella, taking toll from 

 them at will. 



When the very oblique mouth is closed, the fore part of the lower jaw rises I 

 nearly vertically in advance of the upper, and for its full width enters the dorsal 

 contour. This triangular part of the tip of this jaw is of the full green color of the 

 back, with which it is perfectly assimilated in the living fish, carrying the dorsal 

 green forward in utter disregard of the oral cleft. Nothing could illustrate more 

 perfectly the fact that fishes are colored as if they had been made first as blanks, 

 and then, without reference to underlying structure, painted as units with adap- 

 tive color and shading. The large eye falls below the level of the dorsal green and 

 its iris blends with the silvery side. As seen by the diver this great fish appears 

 unsubstantial, a gray ghost floating in gray water. 



Found from middle Atlantic states to Brazil. W. H. L. 



Family ALBULIDAE. Ladyfishes 



Albula vulpes (Linnaeus). Bonefish 



Twice young bonefish were seined on Long Key flats, and once leptocephaloid 

 larvae were included. The smallest larva, which was 25 mm. long, was so trans- 

 parent that the divisions of a ruler were visible through its body, yet the juvenile 

 color pattern was clearly indicated. This pattern consisted of six dark spots along 

 the lateral line; six median spots above them; five dark saddles dividing the 

 interspaces equally; and other spots in series below the lateral line. The youngest 

 larva was 50 mm. long and already had a little pigment along the outer rays of 

 the caudal and along the side of the belly. 



Inhabiting tropical seas, ranging northward to middle Atlantic states. 



W. H. L. 



Family CLUPEIDAE. Herrings 



Sardinella Cuvier and Valenciennes 



Sardinella Cuvier and Valenciennes, Hist. nat. poiss., vol. 20, 1847, p. 261 (S. aurita Cuvier 



and Valenciennes). 

 Sardinia Poey, Memorias, vol. 2, i860, p. 311 (S. pseudohispanica Poey). 



Since 191 8 or earlier, when Alvin Seale thought he had discovered that the 

 type of Sardinia pseudohispanica Poey preserved in the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology was a thoroughly representative specimen of Sardina Antipa, there has 

 been confusion regarding the relations between that genus and the genera 

 Sardinella Cuvier and Valenciennes and Sardinia Poey. Seale's basic observation 



