Jordan and Evermann. — Fishes of Noj'th America. 1635 



isli or reddish, not spotted; no dark axillary spot; pectoral with white 

 points at base. Length 210 mm. Cuba. (Poey); probably not distinct 

 from tSjjarisoma abildgaardi. (ocrj, sharp; fipaxioov, arm.) 

 Scams oxybraehius, Poey, Synopsis, 342,1868, Havana. 



2046. SPARISOMA ABILDGAARDI (Bloch). 



(Red Paerot-pish; Rose-back Pabhot.) 



Head 3.t (3| with caudal); depth 2| (3i). D. IX, 10; A. II, 9; scales 

 21-21-6. Body rather deep; a small, bluntish canine on each side of 

 upj)er jaw in front of angle of mouth; upper lip covering most of upper 

 jaw. Head rather short; eye rather large, 4^ in head; snout rather 

 acute, 2| ; cheeks with a single row of large scales ; each pore of lateral 

 line with 5 to 8 branches covering most of the scale; 4 scales on median 

 line before dorsal. Pectorals rather longer and sharper than in related 

 species, not reaching far past tips of ventrals; caudal tin lunate; the 

 middle a little convex when spread open, the outer rays slightly pro- 

 duced, the upper rays 1^ iu head in the largest specimens examined. Color 

 in spirits, almost plain dark brown, somewhat mottled with paler; a few 

 dark dots on opercle, the edge of the opercle being more or less blackish ; 

 pale gray below, from tip of lower jaw to caudal; teeth pale, tinged with 

 reddish ; jaws pale ; all the fins pale, the dorsal narrowly edged with dusky, 

 the fin somewhat mottled with darker ; axil of pectoral pale, the base dusky 

 above. In life, the dorsal, caudal, lower fins, and belly are bright cherry 

 red; rest of body brown, tinged with red; pale dots and mottlings on 

 sides of head and on body. West Indies south to Brazil; generally com- 

 mon. Here described from Havana specimens, 8 inches long. (Named 

 for Abildgaard, professor in the University of Copenhagen, author of 

 descriptions of worms.) 



Tieja, Parra, Descr. Dif. Piezas Hist. Nat., 58, pi. 28, fig. 2, 1787, Cuba. 



Scams abildgaardi, Bloch, IchtliyoL, pi. 259, 1791, America; from a specimen sent by 



Prof. Abildgaard. 

 Searus coccineus, Bloch &. Schneider, Syst. Ichthyol., 289, 1801, Cuba; after Paeea. 

 Scarus aureontber, Lac^pede, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 55, 163, 1803, Martinique; on a drawing 



by Plumier. 

 Scanty amplus, Ranzani, Nov. Comm. Ac. Scient. Inst. Bonon., 324, taf. 5, pi. 25, 1842, 



Brazil (fide Guichenot; not seen by us.) 

 Scarus erythrinoides, Guichenot, Scarides, Mus. Paris, 10, 1865, San Domingo. 

 Scarus oxybraehius, Poey, Synopsis, 342, 1868, Cuba. 

 Scarus abildgaardi, Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., xiv, 175, 1839: Gunthee, 



Cat., IV, 209; Guichenot, Scarides, Mus. Paris, 10; Poey, Enumeratio, 111; Cope, 



Trans. Am. Pbilos. Soc. 1871, 462. 

 Sparisoma abildgaardi, Swainson, Nat. Hist. Class. Fishes, etc., ii, 227, 1839 ; Jordan & 



Swain, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 1884, 97; Jordan, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1886, 47; Jordan, 



Review Labroid Fisbes, 676, 1890. 



2047. SPARISOMA DISTINCTUM (Poey). 



Depth 3^ in length ; eye 5 in head, 2 in snout ; snout sharp ; body deep, 

 usually a small posterior canine, this, however, often absent; scales of lat- 

 eral line with a central tube, which bifurcates and which has a very short 



