262 PAPERS FROM TORTUGAS LABORATORY vol. xxxiv 



Auchcnopterus fasciatus (Steindachner) 



Cremnobates fasciatus Steindachner, Ichthyol. Beitr., No. 5, 1876, p. 176 — Florida Strait. 



Auchcnopterus nox Jordan and Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 7, 1884 (1885), p. 30 — 

 Key West. 



Acanthoclinus chaperi Mocquard, Bull. Soc. philom. Paris, ser. 7, vol. 10, 1886, p. 19 — Bay 

 of Guanta, Venezuela. 



Paraclinus chaperi Mocquard, ibid., ser. 8, vol. 1, 1888 (1889), p. 41. 



Auchcnopterus affinis Meek and Hildebrand (not of Steindachner), Field Mus. Nat. Hist., 

 Zool. Ser., vol. 15, pt. 3, 1928, p. 930 — Fox Bay, Colon, Panama. 



Cremnobates argus Beebe and Tee-Van, Zoologica, vol. 10, 1928, p. 238, with fig. — Port- 

 au-Prince Bay, Haiti. 



Though known from Key West and southward, it was not found at Tortugas. 



The types of this species are 2 fish in Vienna^ 29 and 34 mm. long, which 

 according to the label came from Key West, a more precise locality record than 

 that published in the original description. Steindachner gave D. 3/27; A. 2/20; 

 but in one, as counted by me, it is D. III-XXVI; A. II,i8, and in the other D. III- 

 XXVII; A. 11,19. The dorsal fin is deeply notched behind the 3d spine. Four 

 specimens from Key West have 29 dorsal spines and 19 anal rays, and 2 others, 

 from Florida, have 1 anal ray less. For reasons stated below, the writing of the fin 

 formula as if the dorsal were composed of two fins is scarcely more than a con- 

 vention. 



The type of Auchenopterus nox, from Key West, has D. XXX; A. II,i8; and 

 the type of Cremnobates argus has D. XXX; A. 11,17. These fish have an ocellus 

 between the 23d and 25th spines, or sometimes between 22d and 24th or between 

 22d and 25th. The type of C. argus has also a lesser ocellus on the 16th spine and 

 the web before it. Ocular cirrus variable, usually simple, but double on one side 

 in the type of A. nox, sometimes more or less divided. 



The type of Paraclinus chaperi, type species of its genus, is a specimen 40 mm. 

 long, in fair state of preservation, in Paris. The dorsal fin is very slightly emar- 

 ginate, and the formulas are D. XXXI; A. 11,19; lateral line continuous to base 

 of caudal, with about 36 scales, the last without a pore; supraocular cirri 4-parted 

 on one side, simply divided on the other; on one side one and one-third times 

 vertical diameter of eye, on the other only a little more than eye's diameter; the 

 flat expanded nuchal lappets extending slightly beyond dorsal origin; dorsal 

 ocellus between the 22d and 24th spines. Nothing appears to distinguish the 

 genus from Auchenopterus except the continuous dorsal, which, according to 

 specimens examined and the sexual differentiation of A. nigripinnis, is no more 

 than a secondary sexual character. Numerous specimens examined from Curacao 

 and Aruba indicate the same thing, since at lengths less than 32 mm. none lacks 

 the notch, as do some of the larger ones. A specimen from Colon illustrates the 

 same in the reverse sense. In this female 46 mm. long, with abdomen distended 

 by her large ovaries, the membrane behind the third dorsal joins the 4th spine 

 only at the base. 



Paraclinus chaperi Mocquard is apparently a south Caribbean representative 

 of A. fasciatus, readily enough distinguished from the latter if one has a sample 



