1580 Bulletin //, United States A'ational Museum. 



dorsal; pectoral uot wide, its upper rays the longest, its ijosterior end 

 sharp above, uot reaching to end of veutrals, Avhich reach about to vent; 

 soft dorsal and anal similar, pointed behind; caudal lunate. Top of head, 

 preorbital, maxillary, and lower jaw naked; cheek with about 6 rows 

 of small scales, opercle with about 5 rows ; small scales on interoiier- 

 clfs. Color reddish gray, varying to brick red; some of the scales olive 

 green at base; cheeks greenish, head mottled; a large round blue black 

 blotch at base of last rays of soft dorsal; caudal grayish, with 3 rows 

 of dull olive spots; anal similarly colored; an undulate blue line below 

 eye; adult male with vertical fins blackish at base, the black forming a 

 crescent on the caudal; frontal region from snout to occiput abruptly 

 blackish. The variations in the ground color are considerable, older fishes 

 and fishes taken in deep water being much redder than small fishes or 

 iishes taken from grassy Itottoms. One of the latter, 1 foot in length, was 

 gray, viohiceous above, each scale olive green at base; lower parts tinged 

 with creamy orange; head more purplish, mottled with olive; cheeks 

 greenish; an undulate blue line below eye, below which are purplish reti- 

 culations ; long spines of the dorsal fin greenish at l>ase, orange at tip ; soft 

 dorsal similar, a large black blotcli at its base; caudal grayish, with 3 

 rows of dull olive spots; anal similarly colored; pectoral light orange; 

 veutrals blackish at tip, reddish at base. Deep-water fishes are brick 

 red or orange red, the degrees of redness being very A'ariablc, the markings 

 constant. The adult male has further, the A'ertical fins all blackish at 

 base, the black forming a crescent on the caudal ; frontal region from snout 

 to occijmt abruptly blackish; lower jaw light yellow. The male fish has 

 the cleft of the mouth very nmch wider than the female. These large- 

 mouthed hogfish are thought by many fishermen to belong to a different 

 species. One specimen had 4 elongate spines iu the dorsal. Vertebrae 

 12 -f 17 = 29. Length 2 feet. AVest Indies ; abundant north to Key West 

 and Bernmda, about reefs and rocks. This large and showy species is 

 generally common in the West Indies, It reaches sometimes a weight of 

 12 to 15 pounds, and is generally esteemed as a food-fish. It changes much 

 in the course of its growth, and has thus received several specific names. 

 (majcimus, largest.) 



Suillus (The Great Hogliah), Catesby, IS'at. Hist. Carolina, pi. lo, 1750, Bahamas. 

 Lahrus ynaxiinus, "Walbauw, Artedi Piscium, 261, 1792; after Catksbv. 

 Lachnolaimus suillus, Cuvier, Ilegne Animal, Ed. n. Vol. 2, 257, 1829; after Catesby ; 

 CuviER & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., xni, 283, 1839; Poey, Enimieratio, 105, 

 1875; Bean & Deesel, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1884, 153. 

 Lachnolaimus aigula, CcviER & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Pois.s., xiil, 277, 1839, St. Bar- 

 tholomew. 

 Lachnolaimus dux, Cdvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., xiii, 285, 1839, Martinique. 

 Lachnolaimus caninus, CuviER & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., xni, 288, 1839. St. 



Thomas ; San Domingo ; PoEY, Synopsis, 330, 1868, Havana. 

 Lachnolaimus j^sittacus, Ccvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., xiii, 291, 1839, Porto' 



Rico. 

 Lachnolaimus falcatus, Guntheu, Cat., iv, 87, 1862; aitev Labms falcatus'L., but the Lin- 

 nxanfalcatus is a Trachinotus; Goode, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., v, 36, 1876; Jordan & 

 Gilbert, Synopsis, 001, 1883; Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1884, 134; 

 Goode, Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim., 275, 1884 ; Stearns, Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anini., 275, 1884. 

 Lachnolcenuis maxivius, Jordan, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1884, 546; Jordan, Proc. U. S. Nat. 

 Mus. 1886, 45 ; Jordan, Review Labroid Fishes, 626, 1890. 



