1578 Bulletin 47 , United States National l\Iuscmn. 



small, high up. Cheeks with small scales; iuteropercle naked; opercles 

 naked, except above ; scales on body rather small, in about 60 transverse 

 series, those on ventral region reduced in size; lateral line continuous, 

 abruptly decurved opposite the end of the soft dorsal. Dorsal iin long, 

 low, continuous, the spinous part much the longer, with about 16 low, 

 strong, subequal spines, each with a small cutaneous appendage at tip; 

 soft dorsal higher than spinous; anal similar to soft dorsal, with 3 stout, 

 graduated spines; pectorals broad and rather short; caudal short, trun- 

 cate, with rounded angles; the soft parts of the vertical fins with the 

 membranes somewhat scaly; ventrals conspicuously behind pectorals. 

 Brauchiostegals 5. Gill rakers very short and feeble ; gill membranes 

 somewhat connected, free from the isthmus. Vertebra^ 16 4-18^'^^- This 

 genus contains a single species, a large dull-colored Labroid, abundant 

 on the Atlantic coast of the United States. (A latinization of the ver- 

 nacular name "Tautog,"' which is of Indian origin.) 



1985. TAUTOiJA OMTIS (Liuiurus). 



(Tautou; Black-fish ; Oyster fish.) 



Head 3i to 3^; depth 2 J to 3. D. XVI, 10; A. 111,8; eye 5^ in head; 

 snout 3 ; pectoral 1| ; ventral 2 ; highest dorsal spine 3 ; highest dorsal ray 

 14; third anal spine 3; highest anal ray 1^; scales 14-60-25. Body some- 

 what deep and compressed; profile moderately steep, well rounded from 

 snout to dorsal; maxillary reaching the vertical from anterior nostril; 

 jaws about equal, with 2 or 3 large canines and smaller ones on the side, 

 which gradually diminish in size backward; gill rakers very short and 

 blunt, about 3 +6; a patch of small scales behind eye extending down- 

 ward to middle of cheek, where there are 5 or 6 series, head and opercles 

 otherwise naked ; pectorals broad and rounded, not quite reaching tips of 

 ventrals; soft dorsal higher than spinous; caudal truncate or slightly 

 rounded. Color l)lackish or greenish; the young usually with about 3 

 pairs of dark l>ars connected by reticulations; adult often nearly plain 

 blackish; chin white; eye greenish. The tantog is one of the most valu- 

 able food-fisshes of the Atlantic coast. It is generally abundant within its 

 range, and its flesh is of superior (juality. The largest specimen known, 

 according to Dr. Goode, had a length of about 3 feet. Atlantic coasts of 

 the United States, from New Brunswick to Charleston, South Carolina, 

 about rocks and keli) in shallow water; New Brunswick (Goode); Casco 

 Bay and Freeport, Maine (Kendall), {ovlxic,, a kind of plant; apjilica- 

 tion unexplained.) 



Labrus onitis, Linn^US, Syst. Nat., Ed. x, 286, 1758: Eil. xii, 478,1700: ty|ie locality not 

 given. 



Labrus hiatula, Linn^US, Syst. Nat., Ed. xn, 475, 1760, Carolina (Coll. L)i-. Garden); 

 Jordan, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1885, ;?96; note on LinN/EUS' type. 



Labrus cai-(jKnvs. Bonnaterre, Tableau Encyclop6d. et M6thod., Iclithyologie, 113, 1788, 

 Carolina ; after Linnaeus. 



Labrus blackjish, Schopf, Schrift der Gesellsch. Natur. Freunde, vni. 156, 1788, New York. 



Labrus siibfusctis, "Walbauji, Artedi Piscium, 254, 1792; after Schopf. 



Labrus tessellatus. Bloch, Iclithyologia, pi. 291, 1792, Norway. 



Hiatula gardeniana, Lacepkde, Hist. Nat. Poiss., II, 522, 1800, Carolina ; after Labrus hia- 

 tula, LINN.EUS. 



