30G PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Buout to the nape, tbence gently convex. Snout, rather short, acute; 

 its length 3 in head. 



Mouth, not very large; the gape curved; the maxillary reaching 

 about to opposite front of the pupil ; its length 2^ in head. Teeth of 

 moderate size, the outer enlarged; antrorse teeth in the posterior part 

 of each jaw considerably enlarged; those of the upper jaw canine-lilie, 

 larger thau any of the other teeth. 



Eye large, 3i in head; interorbital width, 3^; X)reorbital, low; its 

 least width, 7J in head. i^reoi)ercle rather evenly and shapely serrate. 



Scales, large ; those of the anterior and middle parts of the body, 

 down to the level of the lower x>art of pectoral, much enlarged, having 

 nearly double the de[)th of the scales above lateral line. Iiows above 

 lateral line running very obliquely ujiward and backward; tbose below 

 somewhat wavy, most of them forming a curve with the convexity 

 downward and backward. 



Dorsal spines, moderate; the fourth, 2 in head; upx>er caudal lobe, 1|. 

 Longest anal rays, 2^ in head, their tii)8 extending when depressed 

 beyond the tip of the last ray. Second anal spine much longer and 

 stronger than third, 2 in head, its tip when depressed reaching nearly 

 to tip of last ray ; ventrals, 1'j in head ; pectorals, li^. 



Color in life, light bluish-gray as ground color. A bronze-yellow on 

 the upi>er x>art of each scale, these forming continuous undulating 

 stripes on the whole body and head, wider than the interspaces of the 

 ground color. On caudal peduncle they are nearly straight ; on anterior 

 l)art of the body below lateral line they are broader and very oblique. 

 A horizontal stripe, crossing the others, runs along the side of back from 

 occiput to last rays of soft dorsal, of the same golden-yellow ; yellow 

 around eye; yellow shades and streaks on cheeks, not strongly mark<;d 

 as in sciurus and plurnieri ; yellow stripes on toj) of head ; angle of 

 mouth black, inside brick-red. A large black blotch under angle of 

 jireopercle; fins bright golden yelhjw ; the i)ectoral and spinous dorsal 

 I>aler. In si>irits the ground color becomes grayish and the stripes 

 brownish or dusky. 



This species is rather rare at Key West, where it is known as the 

 French Grunt or Open-mouth Grunt. In Havana, it is more common, 

 and is called Uonco Condenado. It reaches a length of nearly a foot. 

 Its x>eculiar coloration and large lateral scales render it one of the most 

 easily recognizable of the species. 



There is no doubt as to the name to be retained for this species, the 

 ji&me Jiavolineatus of Desmarest having clear ])riority over all the names 

 of species described by Cuvier, the descri[>tion and figure given by him 

 being very good. In the first descrii)tion of the genus Hcemulon, the 

 lHabaHiH JlaviUneatuH is expressly mentioned, by Cuvier, as one of the 

 species to be referred to the genus. 



The synonymy of the si)ecies is, however, rather uncertain. U. heterodon, 

 Cuv., certainly belongs here, and most probably //. xanthox)teron also. 

 H. carina and II. bonariense are so very briefly described as to be piac- 



