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PAPERS FROM TORTUGAS LABORATORY vol. xxxiv 



Callionymus boekei Metzelaar 



Callionymus boe\ei Metzelaar, Trop. atl. Vissch., 1919, p. 149, fig. 46 — Curacao. 

 Callionymus sancti eitstatii Metzelaar, ibid., p. 150, fig. 47 — St. Eustatius. 



Seined not infrequently on the flats inside Bird Key reef. It is accustomed to 

 life on sandy bottom, in which it embeds itself with a rocking movement. The 

 reduction of its gill openings to narrow foramina on the dorsal side is consistent 

 with this habit. It may "creep" slowly over the bottom on its ventral fins, the tips 

 of which are strongly exserted. 



D. IV-9 1 /^; A. 8V2; P- 19; V. 1,5; C. 13, the upper 3 and lower 2 simple, none 

 produced. Head barely more than 3.0 in standard length; depth 5.5; anal base 

 3.2. Least depth of caudal peduncle 1.2 in eye, all measured in a male 78 mm. in 

 total length. The preopercular spine with 3 strong antrorse barbs on upper or 

 inner side, the inclination increasing progressively from behind forward, with a 

 single barb on lower or outer side. 



Both sexes changeable in shade; the female, in the grayer phases, especially 

 irregularly mottled and marbled with light spots on a darker ground, the light 

 areas lightest at their borders, the dark areas darkest where in contact with light 

 ones. The variegated grayish ground color in the male interrupted more defi- 

 nitely by four crossbars of olive, narrower than the interspaces, the first under 

 spinous dorsal, two under soft dorsal, and one on caudal peduncle; sides olive, 

 with a horizontal row of white spots below; seven parallel bars of olive on throat 

 and branchiostegal membranes; spots of blue (lacking in the female) on cheeks 

 and side of body above base of pectoral, shimmering with the iridescent luster 

 of labradorite; spinous dorsal of the most brightly colored male rather yellow on 

 left side, with a submarginal band of pale yellow and black; the ground color 

 spotted with lavender with dark lines between rays, right side similar, except for 

 1 st and 2d spines and the web between, where the color was broadly diffused 

 with the dorsal gray, the only part of the fin's surface showing when depressed 

 (female without the bright hues on first dorsal) ; second dorsal with four brown 

 lines extending down and back at right angles to the rays; pectorals transparent 

 with vertical dark lines formed by rows of spots on the rays; ventrals and anal 

 much more heavily pigmented in the male. 



Only sexual differences distinguish Metzelaar's two nominal species. The type 

 of Callionymus boe\ei is a male, that of C. sancti eustatii a female. W. H. L. 



The collection contains 13 specimens, ranging in length from 58 to 65 mm. 

 Evidently this is a much smaller species than C. agassizii. The caudal fin is con- 

 vex and without produced rays. The first dorsal is much higher in the male than 

 in the female, but the spines, unlike those of C. agassizii, bear no filaments. 



The females have not changed greatly in pattern in preservatives, except that 

 the yellow and green have faded. The males, too, have retained the markings 

 rather well, with some of the blue remaining. The general color of the male is 

 now grayish, variously speckled on upper parts of head and body; lower parts of 

 head from posterior angle of mouth to base of pectoral with vertically elongate 



