Jordan ayid Evermaiin. — Fishes of North America. 1267 



Mesoprion isodon, Cuvieb &, Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., ix, 443, 1833, San Domingo ; 



GiJNTHBR, Cat., I, 206. 

 Mesoprion rosaeeus, Poey, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. T., ix, 1870, 317, Cuba. 

 Lutjanus analis, Poey, Enumeratio, 29, 1875; Jordan, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1884, 125; 



Jordan & Swain, I. c, 455; Jordan & Fesler, I. c, 448. 

 Lutjanus rosaeeus, Poey, Eiiumeratio, 30, 1875. 



1642. NE0MJ:NIS COLORADO (Jordan & Gilbert). 



(Pabgo Colorado.) 



Head 2|; depth 3. D. X, 14; A. Ill, 7; scales 5-47-11; tubes in lateral 

 line 47. Body comparatively deep, highest at front of spinous dorsal, and 

 with an angle at origin of soft dorsal; profile of back evenly arched to 

 origin of dorsal fin; ventral outline rectilinear to origin of anal tin, the 

 base of which fin is very oblique in the young, less so in the adult. Snout 

 rather short, less acute than in N. iiovemfasciatiis, less than ^ length of head ; 

 maxillary reaching nearly or quite to vertical from front pnpil, 2f in head. 

 Width of cheek from orbit to angle of preopercle less than snout. Eye, in 

 adult, half the iuterorbital width and f length of snout, proportionately 

 larger in the young. Vertical margin of preopercle with minute, even 

 serrations for its entire length ; a shallow emargination above the angle, 

 which is provided with coarser, but still inconspicuous, serrations; lower 

 limb of preopercle smooth on its anterior half; upper jaw with a very 

 narrow band of villiform teeth behind the conical teeth, which are not 

 very large; a single pair, or more usually two unequal pairs, of canines in 

 front of upper jaw, between which is a pair of small teeth; conical teeth 

 in lower jaw larger than those of upper, close-set, largest in the middle of 

 the jaw, becoming smaller in front and behind, about 8 on each side; 

 vomerine teeth arranged in a crescent-shaped patch, without backward 

 extension on the median line; teeth on tongue in 2 patches, a roundish 

 1 anteriorly, usually formed by the junction of 3 smaller ones, and an 

 oblong patch on the median line behind this. Gill rakers distant, few, 

 the longest i length of orbit, their number about 1+7. Dorsal spines 

 strong, the fourth the longest, the last more than i its length, the fourth 

 spine 2f in head, as long as the snout in the adult, a little longer in young; 

 soft dorsal and anal similar to each other, some of the posterior rays of 

 each being considerably elevated, the fin thus being iiointed instead of 

 rounded in outline; in the young these rays are much longer than the 

 dorsal spines and slightly longer than the caudal peduncle; in the adult 

 they are lower but still longer than the dorsal spines ; longest rays of anal 

 about 1 head; caudal not deeply emarginate; pectorals long, acute, reach- 

 ing to or beyond vent, li i" head; ventrals not nearly reaching vent, as 

 long as snout and orbit ; anal spines strong, the second rather longer than 

 third and a little stronger, 3^ In head. Scales rather small, the series 

 forming an angle at the lateral line, those below it running the more 

 obliquely, those above forming nearly horizontal series parallel with 



large specimen 27i inches in length. The only tangible distinction which we find in the 

 long description is that the eye is one-sixth the length of the head, while in N. analis of 

 the same size the eye is 8i in the head. We hesitate to admit 2i. rosaeeus a,a distinct from 

 ^. analis. The larger eye and redder coloration perhaps indicate a specimen from deeper 

 water than usual. Specimens of this species are in the museum at Cambridge from Nas- 

 sau, Rio Janeiro, and Kio Grande do Norte. 



