892 Bulletin 4y, United States National Museum. 



1280. rETRAPTURUS* IMPERATOR (Bloch & Schneider). 



Telraptunis indiciis, Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., viii, 286, 1831, Sumatra; on a 



figure by Banks. 

 Telraptunis herschelii, Gray, Ann. Nat. Hist., i, 313, 1838, Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope. 

 lliftiojtkonisherschclii, Gu.vtheu, Cat., ir, 513, 1860. 



ITistioplionts breviroslri.1, GuNTiiER >t Pl.AYFAiR, Fish. Zanzibar, 53, 1806, Zanzibar. 

 Tclmpiiints lierschelii, LCtken, Spolia Atlantica, 441, 1890. 



(BlI.LFISII ; SpEARFISII ; AoU.JA Bi.ANCA ; AiU'JA DE PAtADAR.) 



Head (to end of upper Jaw) 2* ; depth 7 to 8. Length of caudal lobes 

 ii. D. Ill, 39-6 ; A. II, 13-6. Nape elevated, the greatest depth of body 

 opposite the opercle. Eye midwaj" between opercle and tij) of lower jaw. 

 Dorsal inserted in front of base of pectorals, its height I to {■ in depth of 

 body ; caudal forked at an angle of 70 to 80 degrees. Dark blue above ; 

 whitish beneath; tins dark blue. Length 7 feet. Weight 4u to 100 

 pounds. West Indies ; not rare on our coast, ranging occasionally north- 

 ward to Cape Cod. Our species is here considered to be identical with 

 the form found in southern Europe ; but no direct comparison has yet 

 been made, {imperator, emperor). (Eu.) 



Xiphias ititperator, BloCH &, Schneider, Syst. Ichth., 93, pi. xxi, 1801, Mediterranean; after 



DUHAMEL. 



Tetraptnriis belone, Rafinesque, Caratteri, 54, pi. 1, fig. 1, 1810, Sicily; CrviER &, Valen- 

 ciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., viii, 280, 1831. 



Slceponopoihis t;/pvs, Naudo, Isis., xxvi. Col. 41Y, 1833, Adriatic. 



Tetraplnnis georgii, Lowe, Proc. .Zool., Soc. Lond., yiir, 1840, 36, Madeira. 



Tetrajjiurus alhidtus, PoEY, Memorias, ii, 237, 1861, Havana; Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 420, 

 1883. 



Telraptunis lessoni, Canestrini, Arch. Zo6\., 259, pi. vn, 1861, Mediterranean. 



Histiophoms helone, Gunther, Cat., ii, 513, 1860. 



Tetraiilnnts imperator, GooDE, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1881, 417. 



1281. TETRAPTURUS AMPLTIS, Poey. 

 (Agija de Casta.) 



Head 2? ; depth 5 ; length of caudal lobes 3^. D. Ill, 38-7 ; A. II, 13-7. 

 Body stouter than in Tetrapturux imperator, more convex at nape, the 

 greatest depth behind opercle. Caudal forked at an angle of 90 to 100 

 degrees. Dorsal inserted rather behind base of pectorals, its height ? 

 depth of body. Length 10 feet or more; reaches a weight of 400 to 800 



*If, as Dr. Goode suggests, the species called imperator is confined to the Mediterranean, the 

 American species may stand as Tetrapturns albidns, er possibly as T. geonjii. According to 

 Liitkrn tlien' arc but four recogniz.able species of hluyiihnrid!^ (Ilufliophonis ghidivs and griu-iliros- 

 Irix; Ti lr<ijiliiri(s belone and hersclieli). Ho identifies both of fhe American species of Trtraptiirns 

 with T'lritplnnis. imliriix, Cuvier & Valenciennes. This view is perhaps correct, but, a.s has been 

 pertimiitl y observed by Dr. Goode, the identity of the American species called Tetrui)tiirus aV}idtis 

 and Uisliiiiiliiinis (diiuricanus, with tlieir Old-World representatives, is yet unproved, and in many 

 resipects it is de.sirable to retain the American names until this identity is shown. "To unite 

 species from widely distant localities, without ever having seen them, is very disastrous to a 

 proper understanding of the problems of geographical distribution." (Goode, Proc. U. S. Nat. 

 Mus., 1881, 427.) 



Should Liitkeu's view prove correct, the following synonyms should be added to T< Inxjiliirus 

 imjieridor or alhidus. We do not see any notable difference between the Amercan form, called 

 aUiidtiK, and the European impuratoi; and so adopt the latter name for both. We have no means 

 of comparing either with indicits or herscheli. 



