PEOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 393 



food-fish than any of the others. At Key West it is known as Roclc 

 Hind, and at Havana as Gabra Mora. 



The synonymy of this si)ecies is very complicated. We have adopted 

 the name ascenHionis* from Osbeck as referring without much doubt 

 to this species, although the description is scanty. The jirobability of 

 the correctness of this identification is heightened \>y the record of this 

 species from the same island (Ascension) by Dr. Giinther. If Osbeck's 

 name be rejected as unidentifiable, the n?i\nQ,s punctatus Bonnaterre and 

 oshccid Lacejiede must go with it, while the names imnctatus and macu- 

 latus of Bloch are preoccupied in this genus. Our choice lies, therefore, 

 between ascensionis Osbeck and atlanticus Lacepede. We think that 

 the certainty of identification is suflicient to warrant us in preferring 

 the former name. Of the remaining sj'nonyms, nigricuhis, impetiginosus, 

 capreolus and varius undoubtedly belong to the present species, and 

 probably pixanga also. For the identification of Bloch's maculatiis and 

 Lacepede's atlanticus we have relied on the authority of Peters. 



25. Epinephelus analogus. 



Epineplidus analoynii, Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1863, 163 (Panama) ; 



Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1881, 232 (Acapulco) ; Jordan 



& Gilbert, op. cit., 1882, 376 and 62.5 (Panama) ; Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. 



U. S. Fish Comm., 1882, 107, 110 (Mazatlan; Panama). 

 Serraniisanalof/mi, Giiiitber, Fishes Centr. Amer., 1869, 410 (Panama); Stein- 



dacbuer, Ichtb. Beitr., iv, 1871, 5 (Acapulco; Mazatlan; Panama). 

 Serranus courtadre, Bocourt, An. Sci. Nat., Paris, 222, 1868 (La Unione ; San 



Salvador) ; Yaillant & Bocourt, Mission Scientifique au Mexique, 1875, 80. 



Habitat. — Pacific coast of tropical America. 



Head, 2f (3) ; depth, 3 (.3|). D. X, 17 ; A. IH, 8. Scales, 18-100-x. 

 Length (4944, Panama), 12^ inches. 



General form of Epinephelus ascensionis, the body oblong, rather ro- 

 bust. Head moderately acute, the anterior profile straight from tip of 

 snout to above eye, thence moderately convex. Snout short, 4^ in head. 

 Mouth large, oblique, the maxillary reaching to beyond eye, its length 

 2^ in head. Lower jaw strongly projecting, as in E. ascensionis. Ca- 



* The following is Osbeck's description, as given in the English edition of his Voy- 

 age to China, Loudon, 1771, Vol. II, p. 98: ''Tranchiinis Adscensiunis. This fish tastes 

 exceedingly well, and is distinguished from others by the following marks : The dorsal- 

 fin has 28 rays, the pectoral-fins 18, the ventral-fins 5, the anal-fin 11, the tail 16, and 

 the membrana branchiostega 6 rays; the latter is white, with brown spots ; the single 

 dorsal fin is everywhere of equal breadth, and runs from the head to the tail ; its first 

 11 rays are sharp-pointed; the pectoral fins are obovated and so are the ventral-fins, 

 and their first ray is prickly ; the first 3 rays of the anal -fin, which is likewi.se obo- 

 vated, are prickly ; the tail is wedge-shaped, with short rays ; the body is somewhat 

 compressed and not quite round, covered with a white skin, on which the brown spots 

 rim into one another; the head is somewhat cojupressed; the opercula branchiostega 

 consist of thrbe scales, of which the middlemost ends in two teeth ; oue of them is 

 long and pointed ; the eyes are near each other, in the upper jiart of the head, and are 

 large ; the nostrils are round ; besides them are two greater holes in the forehead ; the 

 teeth are fixed in the gums and throat in several rows ; they are numerous, long, and 

 very sharp ; five of them are longer, namely, three in the upper jaw and two in the 

 lower; the jaws are equal in length." 



