2 6o PAPERS FROM TORTUGAS LABORATORY vol. xxxiv 



Taken occasionally in turtle grass on Long Key flats and inside Bird Key reef, 

 also in beach rock along the east side of Loggerhead Key, attaining a length of 

 at least 50 mm. 



The type of Clinus nigripinnis, 40 mm. long, has the fin formulas D. XXIX,i; 

 A. II,i7, although in the original description the anal rays were said to be 27. 

 Dorsal not notched behind 3d spine; tip of maxillary extending slightly beyond 

 orbit; opercular spine flat, compound, bifid at the tip on one side, trifid on the 

 other; ocular cirrus ending in several points and in length slightly exceeding half 

 vertical diameter of eye; nuchal cirrus divided. 



Anal fin uniformly dusky, the other color largely lost, though a trace of the 

 ocellus may be seen between the 22d and 24th spines. 



Eleven Tortugas specimens had the fin formulas D. XXX or XXXI, 1 ; A. 11,17 

 or 18; opercular spine flattened, compound, ending in 2, 3, or 4 points; nasal 

 cirrus simple; supraorbital and nuchal cirri flat, thin, expanded transversely, 

 deeply cleft, usually 5- and 4-parted. 



Dominant color of females and young males brownish olive, with a general 

 grayish cast from tip of snout to dorsal origin, through interorbital space, and 

 over nape; a dark stripe from lower jaw on either side crossing oral cleft, through 

 eye, and continued on body; a series of light spots on cheek, operculum, pectoral 

 base, and along side just below level of straight part of lateral line; body with 

 eight crossbands, wider than interspaces, continuing on dorsal fin, the last five 

 extending similarly on anal; a dorsal ocellus in next to the last band; cheek pale, 

 except for a dark dash running down and back from below orbit; throat faintly 

 marbled; iris marked with radial dashes of dark and light; spots on rays of 

 ventral fins, and in series across pectorals; caudal dark at base and nearly free 

 from color elsewhere. 



The males are darker in color after attaining a length of upwards of about 

 25 mm., as their secondary sexual differences then have become more distinct. 

 Their mouths grow larger, their cirri a little stouter, their coloration becomes 

 darker and more nearly uniform, and at the same time the notch in the dorsal 

 fin becomes less and less evident until it may be very shallow. 



In alcohol the color shortly becomes red, but as the red pigment is alcohol- 

 soluble the phase is a transient one and in a relatively short time only traces of 

 the original pattern may be left. 



Material examined includes the types of Clinus nigripinnis, Auchenopterus 

 albicaudus, A. rubescens, and A. jajardo. The type of albicaudus is inaccurately 

 described and figured, as its pectoral fins were drawn much too long. The mem- 

 brane behind its 3d dorsal spine is torn, but careful manipulation shows that it 

 joins the 4th about a third of the way up from its base. Therefore it is merely an 

 ordinary specimen of A. nigripinnis in a pale phase or decolorized by the treat- 

 ment it has received. The type of jajardo is like that of nigripinnis, and quite the 

 same as the largest of a graded series from Tortugas. Besides these types and col- 

 lections from Tortugas, the following have been examined: 3 specimens from 

 Key West and Crawfish Bar, Florida; 1 from Governor's Island, Bahamas; 

 Rosen's Bahaman collection, A. albicaudus, A. rubescens, and A. jajardo (Acta 

 Univ. Lund., Arsskr., vol. 7, 191 1); 4 specimens from Cabanas Bay, Cuba; Beebe 



