358 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF COOT FROM THE WEST 



INDIES. 



By ROBERT RIDOWAIT. 



Fulica caribcea, sp. nov. — Sp. char. Similar to F. americana, but 

 differing- in the slenderer bill and in the form and color of the frontal 

 shield. Frontal shield oval or elliptical, much wrinkled, .70 — .90 of an 

 inch long, and .35 — .50 wide, in the breeding season ; its color pale 

 brownish (whitish in life ?) instead of chestnut or li /er-brown, as in F. 

 americana. 



Hah. — Islands of Guadeloupe and Saint John's, Lesser Antilles. 



A male and female from Saint John's (F. A. Ober, coll.) and an adult 

 from Guadeloupe (L. Guesde, coll.) agree in the above characters which, 

 on comparison with an extensive series of F. americana, appear sufiti- 

 cient to justify their separation as a resident local species or race. 

 The plumage is quite identical with that of F. americana, and the bill 

 is marked with the same well-defined subterminal brown spots; but 

 there is no trace whatever of the dark color on the frontal shield, al- 

 ways present and conspicuous in F. americana. 



The Museum possesses a specimen of F. americana, in breeding dress, 

 from Grenada. 



A REVIEW OF THE AMERICAN SPECIES OF EPINEPHELUS AND 



RELATED GENERA. 



By DAVID S. JORDAN and JOSEPH S^VAIN. 



In the present paper we give the synonymy of the species of Epine- 

 phelus and allied genera known from American waters, an analytical 

 key by which the species recognized by us may be distinguished, and 

 full descriptions of most of the species which we have been able to ex- 

 amine. These specimens belong in part to the United States National 

 Museum and in part to the Museum of the University of Indiana. 



The group here discussed corresponds very nearly to the genus 

 Fpinephelus in the sense in which it is understood in the later papers of 

 Bleeker. The Epineplielini include, as understood by us, those Serra- 

 ninm which have the maxillary i)rovided with a supplemental bone, the 

 teeth of the inner series in both jaws depressible, the front of each jaw 

 with two fixed canines which are sometimes obsolete, the dorsal fin 

 continuous, the soft dorsal with 15 to 19 rays, and the bones of the 

 cranium without prominent spinous ridges. This definition excludes 

 the nearly related genera Stereolepis and Polyprion as well as the more 

 remote Serranus, Anthias, Paranthlas, &c. As further distinguishing 

 the Epincpheli from ^Serramis and A^ithias -we have the small scales and 

 the number of the dor.-sal spines, which in Strranus is always te*n, and 



