524 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



Size.— Four to eight inches long. 



General range. — Warmer parts of the Atlantic; 

 from Brazil to Cape Cod on the American coast. 

 A straggler has even been reported from Argentia, 

 on the southern coast of Newfoundland, far to the 

 north of its normal range. 97 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine.- — The only 

 recent report of this filefish from within the Gulf 

 of Maine is of a 7-inch specimen taken in a trap 

 at Provincetown, November 9, 1929. 98 We judge 

 that earlier reports of it from Massachusetts Bay 

 referred to in Storer's description and illustra- 

 tion " were actually based on a specimen of 

 hispidus. 



Orange filefish Alutera schoepfii (Walbaum) 1792 i 



Filefish; Tttrbot; Hogfish; Sunfish; 

 Unicornfish 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 1718. 



Description. — This fish resembles its relatives of 

 the genus Monacanthus in most respects (p. 521), 

 but while it is equally flattened sidewise, it is 

 relatively shallower, being not over half as deep as 

 long. The pelvic bone is as prolonged as it is in 

 the other filefishes, but it does not project ex- 



•' Newfoundland Fish. Res. Comm. Rept., vol. I, No. 1, 1933, p. 126. 



» Firth, Bull. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., No. 61, 1931, p. 13. 



" The illustration of his Monacanthu* massadiusettensis shows the profile 

 typical of hupidui, and neither his description nor his illustration suggests 

 that there were any thorns on the caudal peduncle such as characterize 

 ciliatus. (See Storer Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, Sci., N. Ser., vol. 8, 1863, 

 p. 425, pi. 34, fig. 4; also Fishes of Massachusetts, 1867, p. 231, pi. 34, flg. 4.) 



1 Jordan, Evermann, and Clark (Rept. U. S. Comm. Fish. (1928), Ft. 2 

 1930, p. 495) place the species in the genus CeratacaTithui Gill 1801. 



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ternally, nor is there a ventral dewlap, which is 

 the readiest field mark by which to distinguish 

 Alutera from Monacanthus. The eyes, too, are 

 set lower down on the sides of the head, and the 

 gill openings are relatively longer and more 

 oblique. The dorsal spine is relatively shorter 

 than in Monacanthus, and the lower jaw projects 

 considerably beyond the upper. The soft dorsal 

 fin (34-38 rays) originates behind the middle of 

 the trunk and is rounded in outline, and the anal 

 fin (36—41 rays) corresponds to the soft dorsal fin 

 in size, shape, and position. The short rounded 

 pectorals are situated opposite the lower half of 

 the oblique gill openings and the tail fin is relatively 

 narrower than in the other filefishes or trigger- 

 fishes; its longest rays are more than ){ as long as 

 the body in small specimens, but only one-fourth 

 to one-fifth as long as the body in half-grown fish 

 and larger. 



Color. — Described as varying from uniform 

 olive gray to rich orange yellow or to milky white 

 above, mottled with darker hues of the same tints; 

 bluish white beneath. The caudal fin usually is 

 yellowish on adults but sometimes it is dusky, 

 edged with white. 



Size. — Maximum length about 2 feet. 



General range. — Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico 

 coasts of the United States; not uncommon in 

 s umm er as far north as Cape Cod; reported to 

 Portland, Maine, and perhaps to Halifax, Nova 

 Scotia. 2 



1 A specimen, found in Halifax Harbor, August 25, 1938, appears to have 

 belonged to this species, but it was not In good enough condition for positive 

 identification (McKenzie, Proc. Nova Scotian Inst. Sci., vol. 20, 1939, p. 19). 



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0$ 



Fiqtjbe 278. — Orange filefish (Alutera schoepfii), Key West, Florida. From Jordan and Evermann. Drawing by 



W. S. Haines. 



