406 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Body comparatively short and deep, strongly compressed, tlie back 

 elevated, the anterior profile concave, forming a re-entrant angle before 

 the eye, thence nearly straight to the nape. Head compressed, the 

 snout short, moderately pointed, 3| in head. Eye small, 5f in head. 

 Interorbital space narrow, anteriorly with a broad groove which re- 

 ceives the spines of the premaxillary bones ; its width 8 in head. 

 Posterior part of head narrow, strongly convex transversely. Mouth 

 small, oblique, the jaws subequal, the broad maxillary extending to be- 

 low the middle of the eye, its length 2^ in head. Supplemental maxil- 

 lary well developed. Teeth in narrow bands, formed as in other Epliine- 

 |)Mi, but small. Canines scarcely differentiated; none in lower jaw; 

 one on each side in upper jaw slightly larger than the other teeth. 

 Preopercle with very weak and irregular serrations, the angle not sal- 

 ient, its teeth little, if any, enlarged. A very slight emargination above 

 the angle. Opercle with a single spine, above which is a flat lobe. 

 Opercular flap unusually large, extending beyond the spine for a dis- 

 tance nearly equal to the diameter of the eye. Gill-rakers rather slen- 

 der, about 14 on lower part of anterior arch. Nostrils round, very close 

 together, the posterior the larger. 



Scales small, cycloid, somewhat imbedded in the skin ; lower jaw 

 scaly ; maxillary, preorbital, and tip of snout naked. 



Dorsal spines strong, the third highest, 2J in head, the others grad- 

 ually shorter to the ninth, which is 3i in head. Soft dorsal elevated, 

 the twelfth ray highest, 2 in head. Caudal long, rounded in outline, 1^ 

 in head. Anal very high, the middle soft rays If in head, the other rays 

 rapidly shortened each way. Anal spines short and strong, graduated, 

 the second spine 3i| in head. 



Pectorals very long, nearly reaching anal, \\ in head. Ventrals mod- 

 erate. If in head. 



Color in alcohol dusky brown, mottled with darker. Head, body, 

 and fins covered with roundish whitish blotches, which are very irreg- 

 ular in form and size, some of them larger than the eye. The spots 

 most numerous and distinct on the tail and on the lower part of the 

 head. Several spots behind the eye, confluent into a pale stripe from 

 eye toward spinous dorsal. Fins all blackish, the pale spots smaller 

 and generally less distinct than on body. Pectorals olivaceous, with 

 small, rather distinct black spots. 



A single specimen of this rare species was obtained for Professor 

 Jordan in Havana by Leonel Plasencia. 



This species is the type of the genus Lioiwrca, Gill. It difl:ers, how- 

 ever, in no important respect from the type of the prior-named Derma- 

 tolepis. Bleeker has referred Lioperca to his genus Serrmiichthys (or 

 Cromileptes). It is not, however, certain that Serranichthys altivelis 

 really belongs to this type. It has a singularly slender head and 12 

 dorsal spines. 



