292 PAPERS FROM TORTUGAS LABORATORY vol. xxxiv 



light in 20 fathoms west of the group. A specimen a foot long, believed to be of 

 this species, was seen on the flats just east of Bird Key harbor. It "floated" head 

 downward with snout at the bottom and "drifted" slowly along, propelled by 

 dorsal and anal fins only. The young are common in floating Sargassum, and 

 were found occasionally also in the waste of the tern rookery. 



The body increases greatly in depth with age, at least until a length of about 

 100 mm. is attained. In young 38 mm. long the depth is contained about 4.8 times 

 in the length; in specimens 70 mm. long, about $.5 times; in specimens 100 mm. 

 long, about 2.6 times; and in a fish 285 mm. long, 2.4 times. The range in the 

 number of rays in the second dorsal in 30 specimens is 33 to 37, and in the anal 

 35 to 40. 



A living specimen, 123 mm. long, had in one phase an irregular median streak 

 of white on the upper side of snout and nape, a broader one from throat to 

 second dorsal origin, and an olive stripe from the mouth through eye to the 

 interspace between dorsals. Behind the oblique suborbital white streak the body 

 was largely olive, with four or five quadrate white spots at base of dorsal and 

 behind it, and three similar spots at base of anal; side also with three horizontal 

 lines of white. The shade is changeable, the olive at times becoming very dusky, 

 at times very faint. In the palest phase, lines or dashes corresponding to some in 

 A. scripta may be made out, also very small dark spots which behind the eye 

 and in one or two longitudinal series on the body seem similarly to correspond 

 to some of the dark spots of that species. 



The Jamaican fish, "about 9 inches in length," on which Jordan and Ever- 

 mann based their description of Alutera punctata has a standard length of 160 

 mm., depth between soft dorsal and anal origins 62 mm., distance from tip of 

 lower jaw to upper margin of gill cleft 50 mm., eye 9.5 mm. The dorsal spine is 

 slight; D. 37; A. 39 (not 36 and 35 respectively, as recorded). The body is now 

 dark brown, with traces of small dark spots. Without close comparison with 

 other specimens of the same size, the most significant points are the fin formulas 

 and the thinness of the dorsal spine, which ally this fish with schoepfii. 



Whether Alutera punctata Cuvier is a distinct species is uncertain. In the 

 original description by Agassiz (in Spix, Pise, brasil., 1829, p. 137, pi. 76) the fin 

 formulas D. 25; A. 40 are given, and the accompanying plate shows D. 21; A. 24, 

 neither of which remotely approximates the count in any other known specimen 

 than the type. 



Three specimens of Alutera from Natal, Brazil, which Starks referred to 

 A. punctata (Stanford Univ. Pub., Univ. Ser., 1913, p. 63), in their number of 

 soft rays (D. 36 to 37; A. 38 to 39) are within the range of variation of A. 

 schoepfii, but are said to differ in texture from A. schoepfii of the same size. 



W. H. L. 



The collection contains 36 specimens, 38 to 225 mm. long, which I have 

 identified as this species. The following proportions are based on 3 specimens, 

 54, 56, and 60 mm. in length to base of caudal. Head, measured to upper angle 

 of gill slit, 3.4, 3.1, 3.3; depth, measured at dorsal spine, 3.4, 3.0, 3.0; snout to base 

 of dorsal spine 3.2, 2.7, 3.3. Eye in head 3.9, 4.5, 4.0; snout 1.4, 1.3, 1.3; interorbital 



