Jordan and Evermann. — Fishes of North Amoica. 2495 



branes somewhat united, free from the isthmus; no pseudobranchia?; no 

 pyloric c^ca; vertical fins very low, confluent, without spines; no ven- 

 tral fins; pectoral tins present or absent. Small shore fishes of tropical 

 seas, often living in shells of mollusks, echinoderms, etc., being especially 

 often commensal with the pearl oyster and with the larger Holoihuria. 

 Genera 3; species 12. (Ophidiidw, group Fierasferina, Giinther, Cat., iv, 

 381-384, 1862.) 



a. Pectoral flna present ; no distinot caudal fin; gill membranes connected anteriorly 

 only. FlEBASFER, 952. 



952. FIERASFER, Cuvier. 



Fierasfer, Cu^^ER, Eegne Anim., Ed. 1, ii, 239, 1817 (i7nberbe=acut). 

 Echiodon, Thompson, Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1837, 55 (drummondi). 

 Diaphasia, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1843, 92 {actis). 

 Oxijbeles, Kichardson, Voy. Erebus and Terror, Fislies, 74, 1844-48 (homei). 

 rorobronchvn, Kaup, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 1860, 272 (larva of Fierasfer aciis). 

 Carapus, * Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Pliila. 1864, 152 (after Rafine.sque, 1810 ; not tj'pe). 

 Yexillifer, Gasco, Bull. Assoc. Nat. Med. Napoli 1870, 59 (larva of Fierasfer aeus). 

 Lefroyia, Jones, Zoologist, IX, 1874, 3838 (bermxtdengis) . 



Gill membranes little oonnected, leaving tbe isthmus bare. No distinct 

 caudal fin ; pectoral fins developed. The species of this genus are not well 

 known, and their characters and nomenclatnres are uncertain. It is not 

 unlikely that the American species are all reducible to one, Fierasfer affinia 

 or diibiiis, but our scanty material will not justify us in taking this view. 

 (Fierasfer, the ancient name, from (l)iEp6i, sleek and shining.) 



a. Vomer with canine teeth; pectoral about ^ length of head. 



6. Front teeth of upper jaw enlarged; head 7 to 8 in length; depth 11 J to 15 times 



in length of body. affinis, 2867. 



bb. Front teeth of upper jaw not enlarged; head 6i in length; depth about lOJ 



times in length of body. akenicola, 2868. 



aa. Vomer with small teeth, scarcely canine-like ; pectoral about 2* in head ; head 7 to 



8 J in body. bermudensis, 2869. 



2867. FIERASFER AFFIXISt (Giinther). 



(Pearl-Fish.) 



Head 7i; depth of head 1.5. Maxillary extending slightly beyond orbit; 

 lower teeth larger than the upper, except 2 to 1 front teeth of upper jaw, 

 which are about equal to lower teeth; vomer with 3 to 6 teeth, 2 or 3 of 



* The name Carapus, Rafinesque, has been substituted for Fierasfer by Gill and Poey. 

 This change seems to us not justifiable, as it is certainly not desirable. Tlie name Cara- 

 pus Qrat a]t[)eara in 7lai\ue>i<iue' a Indiee d'lltiologia Siciliana, 57, 1810. No type is men- 

 tioned by IJatinesque, but the diagno.sis is taken from that of Lacepede's second subgenus 

 under (hpnnotiis, which contains the three species, earapo, fierasfer, and longirostratut. 

 Of tlicse spe< les. carapn is the original Linnseau type (Ed. x) of the genus Gymnotus. 

 Carapus should tliereforo be regarded as a synonym of &)imnotus. The Brazilian name 

 cncay^o evidently suggested the word 6'arrtp««, although Dr. Gill derives the name from 

 Koipa, head ; aTTou?, footless, an ex post facto distinction from Ophedion. In a list of Sicil- 

 ian tisbes, on page 37 of Itatinesque's ludice, published somewhat later, tlie name Cara- 

 pius acus ap])ear8 for Fierasfer actis. This reference of a species of Fierasfer to Gymnotus 

 or Carapus was due to Kaflnesque's ignorance of its relations. 



t In the Museum of Comparative Zoology is "one valve of a pearl oyster, invvhich a 

 specimen of Fierasfer dubius is beautifully inclosed in a pearly covering, deposited on it 

 by the oyster." (Putnam.) 



