2I0 PAPERS FROM TORTUGAS LABORATORY vol. xxxiv 



This species shows well how the lateral canines develop. The first to appear 

 is the eventual posterior series. In the male it is present in fish of 50 mm. or less 

 in length. It is supplemented by the next in order in the same oblique series and 

 dropped several times before the first of the anterolateral canines appear, at the 

 approximate length of 80 mm. The female lags a little both in time and in extent 

 of dental development. The largest fish may show on the face of the upper jaw 

 as many as 4 scars besides standing teeth in the posterior series, but usually 1 only 

 before the anterolateral series. 



The type of Sparisoma niphobles, in my judgment, is a female of this species. 

 The type of Scarus atomarius is lost. It is the only specimen of Sparisoma of which 

 I am aware which shows the dentition of S. radians without belonging to that 

 species. Its identity may be established for every practical purpose by considering 

 these facts: S. radians is very common at Tortugas, also in Puerto Rico (Ever- 

 mann and Marsh, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., vol. 20, pt. 1, 1900 (1902), p. 236), 

 and Panama (Meek and Hildebrand, see reference above); that is., in every 

 direction from Cuba. Poey (Memorias, vol. 2, 1861, p. 422) knew the male of 

 radians as Scarus lacrimosus. He did not speak of it as a rare fish. Nor did he 

 speak of S. atomarius as rare; and this is the only scarid he listed among his 

 many which could possibly be the missing female of radians. The description of 

 its color coincides in some notable respects with that of radians. 



The female is mature at a length of 70 mm. or less, and is ripe in July and 

 August. The eggs are transparent and pelagic. 



In his discussion of Sparisoma jlavescens, Metzelaar (see citation above) 

 mentioned young fish with lateral canines, which he believed they would lose 

 before attaining maturity. This, however, is an unwarranted expectation. His 

 small fish are specimens of S. radians, the only known species of the genus which 

 at the size he mentions (85 mm.) develops projecting lateral canines. 



It may be noted that, although the absence of canines in the young of species 

 later to have them often makes their identification difficult, differences in denti- 

 tion once developed are among the most distinctive appearing in this genus. 



W. H. L. 



A field note, probably made after the foregoing was written, was found in 

 which Dr. Longley stated that a small fish, 68 mm. long, taken in 10 fathoms of 

 water was "as red as the Cryptotomus coming from the same depths." 



This fish, as indicated, is sexually mature at a small size, and accordingly it 

 does not seem to grow large. The largest specimen in the Tortugas collection is 

 only 106 mm. long, though Meek and Hildebrand (see reference above) reported 

 one from Panama 140 mm. long. 



In preserved material the male is readily separated from the female (sexes de- 

 termined by the dissection of more than 50 specimens from Tortugas and 

 Panama) by the presence of a black band extending entirely across the base of 

 the pectoral in the male, which the female does not have. 



Atlantic coast of tropical America, northward to Florida and the Bahamas. 



S. F. H. 



