856 CONTEIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 
spots. Form elevated, profile convex; scales without prominent spines; 
two or three scapular plates; first dorsal spine rugose, 1;^ in muzzle; 
third dorsal spine well developed. Head 3^ in total length; depth If; 
D. III-26; A. 22. (Cope.) Newport, Eliode Island; a doubtful species 
(probably strayed from the West Indies). 
(Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1870, 120.) 
478.— MOIVACANTIIUS Cuvier. 
(Cuvier, R^gue Animal, ii, 1817: type Monacanthus cliinensis Cuvier.) 
Body short and deep, very strongly compressed, covered with minute, 
rough scales. Mouth very small ; upper jaw with a double series of 
incisor-like teeth, usuallj" six in the outer and four in the inner series; 
lower jaw with about six incisors in a single series ; teeth conniv^nt, 
unequal ; gill-openiug a small slit, shorter than the eye, nearly vertical, 
below the iiosterior part of the eye, and just in front of upper edge of 
pectoral. Dorsal spine large or small; second dorsal and anal fins simi- 
lar to each other, of abput 30 rays each ; caudal fin moderate, rounded ; 
pelvic bone with a blunt spine; the bone connected by a movable flap 
of varying size; side of tail often with a iiatch of spines, especially in 
the males; no barbel. Vertebrae 7 + 11 to 14. Species very numerous 
in warm seas, (p-ovu?, one; clxavOa^ spine.) 
a. Ventral spine movable; dorsal spine with retrorse barbs. 
b. Abdominal flap greatly develoxied, extending beyond the ventral spine. 
( Monacanihus . ) 
1321 . M. occitlcBitalis Giinther. 
Brownish, mottled with lighter; a broad brown band across the 
middle of the ventral flap. Scales very vsmall, without median crest. 
Spines becoming longer on caudal peduncle, which has in addition 2 
or 3 pairs of strong spines curved forward, these prominent only in 
adults; ventral flap longer than head, about ^ length of body. Scales 
on ventral flap developed as flat plates, with their free margins pecti- 
nate. Snout pointed, the upper profile concave. Dorsal spine strong, 
nearly as long as head, armed behind with 2 rows of retrorse barbs; 
ventral spine small, rough. Head 34; depth I 4 . D. 1-30; A. 30. 
West Indies; occasional on our southern coasts. 
(Giiuther, viii, 2‘37.) 
hb. Abdominal flajj moderate, not extending beyond the pelvic spine. {Stephanolepis'^ 
Gill.) 
1322 . ITI. broccMS (Mitch.) Dek. — Fool-fish; File-fish. 
Dull-greenish, mottled with darker; fins olivaceous, somewhat 
*Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1861, 78: ty^ie Monacanihus seiifcr Bennett. 
{<5rr/(pavoi, crown; h.E7rii, scale.) 
