858 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY lY. 
aa. Ventral spiue fix^d; dorsal spine weak, without barbs ; abdominal flai) moderate. 
(Cantherines* Swaiusou.) 
1325. M. paiSliis Ranz. 
Coloration variable, generally with a whitish spot behind the last 
dorsal ray. Body moderately elevated. Snout moderately proilnced, 
with the upper profile slightly concave. Posterior margin of eye di- 
rectly above axil. Adults with two pairs of strong recurved spines 
on each side of tail; caudal short. Dorsal spine nearly straight, rather 
shorter than head, without barbs, situated above the front of eye. Skin 
with a velvety appearance; the scales minute. Depth about 2. D. I- 
35; A. 31. {Giinther.) Tropical Seas, north to Sonthern Florida. 
(Rauzaui, Nov. Comm. Act. Sci. Inst. Bonon. v, 4, 1842: ^ Monacanllms pardalis Riip- 
pell, N. W. Fish. 1855, 57: Monacanilms pardalis Giinther, viii, 230.) 
410.— ALUTESCA Cuvier. 
File-fishes. 
(Cuvier, Regne Auiin. ed. 2, ii, 829, 1829: type Balistes monoceros Osbeck.) 
Body oblong or rather elongate, strongly compressed, covered with 
minute, rough scales. Mouth and teeth essentially as in Monacanthus, 
but the lower jaw more ])rojectiug, so that the lower teeth are directed 
obliquely upward and backward. Gill-opening an oblique slit, longer 
than eye, situated below and in advance of eye, its posterior end be- 
hind base of pectorals. Pelvic bone long, falcate, movable under the 
skin, without si)ine at its extremity. Dorsal spine small, inserted over 
the eye, rough, but without barbs; soft dorsal and anal long, each of 
30-50 rays; caudal fin convex; x>ectorals small. Species numerous. 
(? ai.ouTo^, unwashed.) 
1326. A. sclioepflli (Walb.) Goode.* 
Dull-greenish, marbled with lighter and darker; lower lij) dusky. 
Eye small, about 4 in snout. Gill-slit nearly twice as long as eye, its 
ui)X)er iiosterior edge nearly under the middle of the eye. Pectoral fins 
scarcely half longer than eye. Dorsal spine slender; dorsal and anal 
fins low; caudal very long in the young, becoming shorter in the 
adult. Scales minute, shagreen-like, uniform over the body. Head 
3§ in length; dejith 2J-. D. 1-36; A. 38. L. 16 inches. Cai)e Cod to 
West Indies; abundant southward. 
(Batistes schccpffi Walbaura, Artedi, Pise. 1792, 461: Balistes aurantiacus Mitchill, 
Traus. Lit. & Pbil. Soc. N. Y. i, 468, 1815 (adult): Alutcra cuspicauda Dekay, New 
York Fauna, Fish. 1842, 338 (young): Ceratacanthus aurantiacus Gill (adult).) 
* Swaiusou, Class. Fish. etc. ii, 327, 1839: type Cantherines nasutus Swaiusou: Balis- 
tes sandwichensis C),. & G. (uavOoi, ass; piv, suont.) (—Liomonacantlius etc. Bleekev.) 
