1430 BiiUeti)! //, United States National ]\h(sc2im. 



in head. Color grayish silvery above, silvery on sides and below; dorsal 

 region with faint streaks produced by darker centers of the scales; spi- 

 nous dorsal blackish, darker on membrane of first spine, the soft portion as 

 well as the caudal yellowish dusky ; ventrals and pectorals pale, each with 

 a faint yellowish blotch; axil of pectoral black above ; aualpale. Pacific 

 coast of Mexico; rather common about Mazatlan; readily distinguished 

 from other 8}>ecies by the weakness of its dorsal spines, as well as by the 

 large number of the soft rays. {EiHch to yield; idrtov, sail, from the slen- 

 derness of its species.) 



fieicena icutici, Jordan & Gilbekt, Proc. TT. S. Nat. Mus. 1881, 356, Mazatlan. (Types, 



Nos. 28182, 28228, 28275, 28368, 29566, 29613, 29615, 29775, 29790. Coll. Gilbert.) 

 Bairdiella icistia, Jordan & Eigenmann, I. c, 387, 1889. 



1817. BAIKDIELLA KO\(JHUS (Cuvier & Valencionues). 

 (RoNco; Ground Drummer.) 



Head 3|; depth 3f ; eye 4J in head. D. X-I, 23; A. II, 8; scales 7-50-8. 

 Body oblong, compressed, scarcely angular in outline; profile straight, 

 rather steep, the snout short and rather acute ; eye as long as snout ; mouth 

 moderate, nearly horizontal; premaxillary on level of lower part of orbit; 

 maxillary reaching beyond middle of eye, 2f in head ; teeth as in Bairdiella 

 icistia ; preoi)ercle strongly serrate ; gill-rakers 9-fl8. Dorsal spines rather 

 stifle, the highest 2 in head; second anal spine rather strong, curved, 1* in 

 head, as long as first soft ray, and reaching beyond tips of other rays. Ven- 

 trals slightly longer than pectorals, which are If in head ; caudal truncate. 

 Color soiled grayish above, silvery below; faint, dark streaks along the 

 rows of scales ; spinous dorsal and anterior part of anal densely covered 

 with dark dots. Length 6 inches. Atlantic coasts of tropical America, 

 generally common in the West Indies and along the coast of Brazil ; * a 

 food-fish of sojne importance, but small in size; our specimens from 

 Havana. {Ilonco, gruuter or croaker, the Spanish name of various species 

 of Hcenmlon, Pomadasis, Bairdiella, etc., from roncar, to snore, or to make a 

 rough or raucous noise.) 



Oorvina ronchus, Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., v. 107, 1830, Maracaibo; 

 Surinam; GuNTHER, Cat. Tiab. Brit. Mus., ii, 299, 1860; Gunther, Fisbes Central 

 America, 387, 1869. 

 ISairdiella ronchtis, Poey, Synopsis, 324, 1868. 

 Scicena ronchus, Jordan, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1886, 44. 

 Bairdiella ronchus, Jordan & Eigenmann, I. c, 388, 1889. 



Subgenus NECTOR, Jordan & Evermann. 

 1818. BAIBDIKLLA AKMATA, Gill. 



Head 3 to 3i ; dejith 3 ; eye 4| in head ; snout 4. D. XI-I, 21 ; A. II, 8 ; scales 

 7-51-9. Snout sharp, the head slender, narrow above, the iuterorbital 



*Many specimens from Rio Janeiro and from Havana are in the museum at Cambridge. 

 Tliere is considerable individual variation, but tbero seems to be no specific difl'erence 

 between Cuban and Brazilian examples. A number of specimens in poor condition are 

 also in tbe museum, 8Hii])(iscd to liiive been obtained by Captain Perry at Vera Cruz. 

 Tliese bave the snout lonj;ir, tlic lyc smaller, and tbe fins higher than usual in ronchus, 

 and they may rejiresent a dillen iit sjiecies. In these the snout is 4 in head, the eye 4J, 

 the longest dorsal spines II, the second anal spiue If. D, X-I, 24. 



