PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 51)7 



cent reflections ; the fulcate rays margined anteriorly and above with 

 black, the posterior rays densely pnnctulate with black, especially to- 

 wards tips. Dorsal rays pinkish or pnrplish, with bright reflections, 

 margined with blackish ; the posterior rays thickly dusted with dark 

 points; pectorals and candal with slight yellowish tinge, and much 

 black specking towards tip, the caudal margined very narrowly above 

 and below with white. Iris silvery. 



Head, 3 to 34- in length ; depth, 1^ to 1^ ; pectoral, 2,^ to 2.^ ; eye, 2% 

 to 3 in head; D. Ill— I, 44 to 47 ; A. Ill, 43 to 45. 



There is nothing to indicate that the West Indian form {Rhombus 

 xanthurus C. & V., IX, 405) constitutes a species distinct from the 

 above, unless it be the small number of flu rays attributed to the latter 

 (D. IV, 40; A. Ill, 39). This is probably due either to a miscount or to 

 the great variability of the species in this respect. Cuvier and Valen- 

 ciennes identify with '■'■xanthurus''^ the figure of Sloane, on which Lin- 

 naeus founded his Stromateus paru. The latter name must then sup- 

 plant ^^alepidotm," and "■ gardeni,^'' unless it be shown that the form from 

 the West Indies is really distinct. 



58. stromateus triacauthus Peck. 



A single specimen obtained ; evidently not abundant. 



59. Coryphaena hippurus Linn. 



Lampugus punclulatus'DeVay, N. Y. Fauna, Fish. 134— not of C. & V. 

 Coryphwna globiceps Dekay, N. Y. Fauna, Fish. 132. 

 (.'oryphfena siieuHi Cuv. & Val., IX, 302. 

 Coryphwiia dorado Cuv. & VaL, IX, 303. 

 Coryphmna (juttata Poey, Mem. tie Cuba, II, 245. 

 Lampvgus punctatus Poey, Mem. de Cuba, II, 419. 

 ' Corypha-na hippnnis Liitken, Spolia Atlantica, 1880, 45. 



Two female specimens of the common dolphin of our Atlantic coast, 

 each about two feet long, were caught with trolling lines off Cape Look- 

 out, during a trip from Baltimore to Savannah. Later in the summer 

 a larger, mutilated, specimen was examined, captured by a flshing- 

 smack in the vicinity of Charleston. Still later, two young specimens 

 were sent by Mr. Stearns, from Pensacola. This material has enabled us 

 us to make a careful review of the history of our Dolphins, which has 

 convinced us that all names hitherto applied to Dolphins from ISTorth 

 America are synonyms of one species, the Gori/pJtcvna hippurus Linnaeus, 

 It is not improbable that the Coryphcena immaculata of Foey ii^ the C. 

 equisetis Linn., as it has the fin rays, the inconspicuous spots, and the 

 short pectorals of that species, but the name equisetis should not be in- 

 troduced into our faunal lists until a bona fide example of the species is 

 taken on our coast. From our own experience in counting the fin rays 

 of the dolphin, it seems evident that a synonym cannot be referred either 

 to hippurus or to equisetis on tlie basis of the count alone, even though, 



