42 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



NOTES ON SOME FLORIDA FISHES. 

 By €i. BROWIV OOODE aud TARI^ETOIV H. BEAIV. 



At various times, iu the publications of the Uuited States National 

 Museum and elsewhere, the validity of some species of Florida fishes 

 described b}' us has been called iu question by Professors Jordan and 

 Gilbert, and several of our names have been referred to the synonymy 

 of older s])ecies without adequate show of proof. In a preceding 

 paper Professor Jordan reiterates some of these statements, and we 

 now feel called upon to give our reasons for adhering to the names 

 proposed by us. The fishes immediately concerning us at present are 

 the follownig : Lutjamis stearnsii, Lutjanus hlacl^fordii, and Caulolatilus 

 microps. In addition to these three, we have studied Sparus pagrus and 

 Xyrichthys " Ilneatus,^^ upon which we have some remarks to make. 



1. Lutjauus stearnsii Goode & Bean. 



Lutjanus stearnsii GoouF. & Beax, Proc. U.S.Nat. Mus., I, 1878, p. ITU; 



Jordan & Gilbert, Syu. Fish., N. A., 1883, p. 549. 

 Lutjanus cahallerote Poey (specimeu iu U. S. National Museuiu, number 



V. Anthias cahallerote Schneider, Block Syst. Ichtb., 1801, p. 310. 



We have been aware for some time that the species of Lutjanus called 

 stearnsii by us occurs in the West Indies, and upon comi)arison of our 

 type with an example of cahallerote, as determined by Poey, we find 

 that the two are identical. We cannot understand, however, the ap- 

 parent ease with which Schneider's description has been interpreted ; 

 to us it is completely useless for the purposes of identification. We 

 prefer to use the name stearnsii for the present, and until one of the 

 older names, cynodov or griseus, is demonstrated as ai)plying to our 

 species. 



The example received from Professor Poey, measurements of which are 

 given farther on, exhibits the following among other characters: 



There are only eight developed gill-rakers on the first arch, one above 

 and seven below the angle ; the longest is one-half as long as the eye. 

 There are seven rows of scales on the cheeks. The single patch of lin- 

 gual teeth is twice as long as it is broad. The vomerines are in a tri- 

 angular patch on the head, with a long, narrow backward extension. 

 The palatines are in a broad band. The scales extend upon the mem- 

 branes of the dor^-al, anal, and caudal fins for about one-half their height, 

 or rather more on the caudal. There are two very strong canines in 

 the upper jaw, aud two much smaller ones between these and the sym- 

 physis, Tha mandible is without enlarged canines. 



The edge of the spinous dorsal membrane is black. The caudal has 

 a narrow black margin. The included portion of the maxilla is brown. 

 The scales of the body below the lateral line have median golden stripes, 

 as iu some species of Mugil. 



