Jordayi and Evermayui. — Fishes of North America, 1259 



side of jaw, where some of them are somewhat caniuelike; tongue with 

 a single large oval patch of teeth, its length more than twice its width ; 

 teeth on vomer forming an arrow-shaped patch with backward prolonga- 

 tion on median line, the length of which is twice the width of the arrow- 

 patch in front. Gill-rakers rather short and thick, the longest about 

 \ diameter of eye, about 9 on lower part of arch. Preopercle with 

 its posterior margin directed somewhat obliquely forward, usually very 

 weakly emarginate, finely serrate above, almost entire at the angle. 

 Scales large, decidedly larger than in N. jocu ; the series below the lateral 

 line almost horizontal, those above in rows parallel with the lateral 

 line, these becoming more or less irregular posteriorly and extending 

 upward and backward below soft dorsal; about 7 rows of scales on 

 the cheeks, 1 row on interopercle, 1 on subopercle, and 7 on opercle; 

 temporal region with a few large scales in about 2 rows; base of soft 

 dorsal and anal scaly; tubes of lateral line each with 4 or 5 branches. 

 Dorsal spines strong, the outline of the fin not greatly convex, the fourth 

 spine longest, 2f in head, the tenth spine 4 in head; margin of soft dorsal 

 well rounded, the middle rays longest, twice length of last, 2| in head; 

 caudal not deeply forked, the upper lobe longest, li length of middle rays, 

 which are 2 in head ; margin of anal well rounded, its middle rays twice 

 length of last, 2} iu head, the first ray reaching about to middle of last 

 when the fin is depressed; anal spines strong, the second longer than 

 third, 3^ in head; ventrals 2 in head; pectorals reaching to front of anal, 

 1^ in head. Color of young in life, greenish, with about 8 very nar- 

 row vertical paler bars on body; scales of lower part of sides with cen- 

 tral orange spots, forming faint streaks along the rows of scales; belly 

 pearly; head greenish; a blackish streak from snout through eye to nape; 

 a narrow, sharply defined blue stripe below eye from snout to angle of 

 opercle; no lateral spot; spinous dorsal edged with orange; ventrals, 

 anal, and caudal pale orange -yellow; pectorals paler. The adult exam- 

 ples differ from the young in the vertical bars being fainter or obsolete, 

 and in the absence, usually, of the blue stripe below eye and the dark 

 stripe on temporal region; the soft dorsal, anal, and caudal are always 

 yellow, of varying intensity, and the edge of thespinous dorsal is orange, 

 not dusky; the whitish area below the eye, very constant in N.jocu, is 

 wanting in N. apodus. Length of si)ecimen described from Key West, 9 

 inches. West Indies; north to Key West, south to Bahia. Straying 

 north rarely to Woods Hole, (a, privative; ttou?, foot; Catesby having 

 neglected to add pectoral fins to his rough drawing; caxis is the plural 

 of the Cuban name caji, formerly spelled caxi.) 



?l'erca marina pinnis branchialibus carens (Schoolmaster), Catesby, Hist. Carolina, etc., 

 tab. 41, 1743, Bahamas; figure very poor, the ]>ectoral fins omitted. 



Caxis, Paera, Descr. Dif. Piezas, Hist. Nat., pi. 8, fig. 2, 1787, Havana. 



?Percaapoda ("Forster, Catal. of Anlm., MS., 21," 1774; printed 1844), TValbaum, Artedi 

 Piscium, 351, 1792; based on the Schoolmaster of Catesby. 



Sparus caxis, Block & Schneider, Ichth., 284, 1801, Havana; after Parra. 



Bodiamis striatus, Bloch & Schneider, Syst. Ichth., 335, pi. 65, 1801, West Indies; mis- 

 printed albostriatus, p. 237; called B. fasciatus on plate. 



Lutjanus acutirostris, Desmarest, Prem. Dec. Ichth., 12, pi. 3, 1823, Cuba. 



