262 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



are continuous and extend back from the nape nearly to the base of the caudal. 

 The anal (3 stout spines and 9 to 10 rays) originates under the eighth or ninth dorsal 

 spine and is of the same form as the soft portion of the dorsal. The caudal is 

 square-cornered and slightly convex. The ventrals, which originate slightly in 

 front of the pectorals, are much larger than the latter, round tipped, and each com- 

 mences with a stiff spine. 



Color. — Described as bright red or crimson in life. All its fins except the 

 pectorals have black tips, and the iris glows like molten gold. 



Size. — The largest specimen on record was 11 inches long. 



General range. — Carribean Sea, West Indies, and Gulf of Mexico in rather 

 deep water, straying northward to the Woods Hole region and very rarely round- 

 ing Cape Cod. 



.> 1 ■■/- ! -' n 



Fig. 124.— Big-eye (Paeudopriacanthus alius) 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — A big-eye found alive on Marblehead Beach, 

 September 3, 1859, still remains the only Gulf of Maine record for this southern 

 species, but since it appears quite commonly at Woods Hole during some summers 

 it may enter the Gulf more often than this suggests but be confused there with 

 young rosefish. 



THE SEA BREAMS OR PORGIES. FAMILY SPARID.^; 



In this family the structure of the fins is essentially the same as in the sea 

 basses — both spiny and soft portions of the dorsal are well developed and the 

 ventrals are thoracic in position and situated below the pectorals. There are im- 

 portant anatomic differences, however, most obvious of which are that the edge 

 of the gill cover does not end with a sharp spine but is rounded or at most bluntly 



