352 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Color. — Uniform blackish or sooty above and below. 



Size. — Maximum length about 15 inches. 



General range. — Tropical seas generally, very common in the West Indies, 

 rarely north to New York and to Woods Hole, and only casual north of Cape Cod. 

 It is usually attached to large sharks or sea turtles. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — The only Gulf of Maine record is for a speci- 

 men said to have been taken in Salem Harbor, whither, as Goode and Bean (1879, 

 p. 21) remark, it was probably carried clinging to the bottom of some vessel in from 

 a southern voyage. 



THE TILEFISHES. FAMILY MALACANTHIDjE 



These are sea bass like in appearance, but with the soft (rear) portion of the 

 dorsal much longer than the spiny (anterior) , and the ventral fins thoracic in loca- 

 tion. The only species that occurs off the northeastern United States is character- 

 ized by a large fleshy flap on the nape, suggesting, though not corresponding to, 

 the adipose fin of salmons and smelts. This, however, is not shared by its relatives. 



136. Tileflsh (Lopholatilus chamxleonticeps Goode and Bean) 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2278. 



Description. — The presence of a thin, high, fleshy, finhke flap on the nape of the 

 neck in front of the dorsal fin, close behind the eye, suggesting in its appearance but 

 not in location the adipose fin of the salmon tribe, serves to identify the tilefish at a 

 glance from all other Gulf of Maine fishes. This flap is as high as the dorsal fin, 

 much higher than long, and rounded at the tip. Equally diagnostic, if less conspicu- 

 ous, is a smaller fleshy flap situated on the side of the lower jaw close to the angle 

 of the mouth, pointing backward (to be seen in the illustration, fig. 175). The 

 outline of the large head is strongly convex in dorsal profile and nearly flat in ventral 

 profile, with the eye high up and the mouth wide, both jaws being armed with an 

 outer series of large conical teeth and inner rows of smaller teeth. The trunk 

 (moderately compressed sidewise) is deepest close behind the head, tapering thence 

 backward to the flattened caudal peduncle. The spiny and soft portions of the 

 dorsal fin are continuous, extending back from above the gill opening almost to the 

 base of the caudal, as is the case in cunner, tautog, and rosefish; but in the tilefish 

 the soft part (14 to 15 rays) is two to three times as long as the spiny portion (7 

 spines). The caudal fin is small for so large a fish, with concave margin. The anal 

 (14 to 15 rays) is about half as long as the dorsal fin, under the rear (soft) part of 

 which it stands, and like the latter it is of nearly even height throughout most of 

 its length except that its anterior corner is rounded. The ventrals stand below the 

 pectorals, which are set low on the sides, and both pectorals and ventrals are pointed. 

 Trunk and gill covers are clothed with large scales. 



Color. — This is a brilliant fish with back and upper sides bluish or olive green, 

 changing to yellow or rosy on the lower sides, and with its belly of the latter tint- 

 with white midline. The head is tinged reddish on the sides; pure white below. 

 The back and sides above the level of the pectorals are thickly dotted with small 



