18«6.J PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 833 



3. Prionotus carolinus. 



Trigla Carolina hinnadus, "Mantissa, 528" (Carolina) Gmelin, Syst. Nat., r.>47, 

 1788 (copied); Cuvler, Rfegne Animal, 1829 (name only). 



Prionotus carolinus Cnv. & Val., Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 90, 1829 (New York ; Caro- 

 lina); Storer, Report of Fishes Mass., 14, 1839 (Martha's Vineyard); De- 

 kay, New York Fauna, Fishes, 46, 1842, plate v, fig. 15 (New York Harbor); 

 Ayres, Bust. Jonru. Nat. Hist., iv,258, 1842 (Brookhaven, L. I.) ; Linsley, 

 "Cat. Fish, of Conn., 1844"; Storer, " Synopsis, 51, 1846"; Gunther, Cat. 

 Fish. Brit. Mns., ii, 192,1860 (New York); Gill, Cat. Fish. East Coast N. 

 Am., 21, 1873 (name only); Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.,373, 

 1878 (Beaufort Harbor); Beau, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 84, 1880 (Noank, 

 Conn.; Wood's Holl, Mass.); Goode & Bean, Bull. Essex Inst., 12, 1879 

 (Salem). 



'JYigla palmipes Mitchill, Trans. Lit. & Phil. Soc. New York, 431, 1814, plate 

 iv, fig. 5 (New York Harbor). 



Prionotus palmi2)es Storer, Hist. Fish Mass., 66, 1867, plate v, fig. 1 (Tisbury, 

 Mass.) ; Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 614, 1883 ; Jordan & Gil- 

 bert, Synopsis Fish. N. Am., 734, 1882; Jordan, Cat. Fish. N. A., 114, 1885 

 (name only) ; Goode, Nat. Hist. Aquatic Animals, 255, 1886, plate 71 (Bees- 

 ley's Point, N. J.). 



Prionotus j)ilatus Storer, "Proc. Bost. Soc. Nar. Hist., ii, 77, 1845" (Massachu- 

 setts Bay); Storer, "Synopsis, 270, 1846"; Storer, Hist. Fish. Mass., 68, 

 1867, plate vi, fig. 1 (Mass. Bay); Gill, Cat. Fish. East Coast N. Am., 21, 

 1873 (name only); Goode & Bean, Bull. Essex Inst., 12, 1879. 



Habitat. — Cape Ann to South Carolina, chiefly northward. 

 • This species is very abundant on the coasts of Southern iS"ew Eng- 

 land and iS^ew York, but is rarely taken as far south as Charleston. 

 Our specimens are from Menemsha Bight, Martha's Vineyard. 



This is evidently the Trigla palmipes of Mitchill, and the Prionotus 

 carolinus of Cuvier and Valenciennes and of most authors. The de- 

 scription of LinnsBus of Trigla Carolina is very brief, and Professors 

 Jordan «& Gilbert have recently rejected the name Carolina as too uncer- 

 tain for adoption. Of the species Ibuud in Carolina, the description of 

 Linnaeus best fits this species and P. scitulus, and the expression "cauda 

 bifida" certainly points to the present species and excludes the other. 



We are unable to see anything in the description or figure of P. 

 pilatus that would show that it is a species distinct from P. carolinus. 

 Goode and Bean say that it may be P. punctatus, and they intimate that 

 its type may not have come from Massachusetts. The figure given by 

 Storer is, however, much more like P. carolinus than like any other 

 species known to us. 



4. Prionotus scitulus. 



Prionotus punctatua Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 373, 1-^78 

 (Beaufort, N. C); Goode, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Ill, (Saint Augustine) ; 

 Goode & Bean, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 338, 1879 (Clear Water Harbor, 

 Fla.); Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis Fish. N.Am., 734, 1883 (Beaufort), 

 (not Trifjla punctata Bloch). 



Prionotus scitulus Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 288, 1882 (West 

 Florida; Beaufort);* .Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 614, 

 1882 (Charleston) ; Jordan, Cat. Fish. N. A., 114, 1885. 



* The mutilated specimens from Pensacola heretofore referred to this species prove 

 to belong to one as yet undescribed. Au account of it will be given later. 



