468, NEW SPECIES OF FISHES, GULF OF MEXICO. 



peduncle very short and slender. Anal fin high, its spines short and 

 slender, the longest ray 1^ in head. No free anal spines. Ventrals in- 

 serted before pectorals, their length li in head. Ventrals not depres- 

 sible into a fissure of the abdomen. Pectorals ]| in head. Vent well 

 behind ventrals. 



Color in life salmon red, rather uright and nearly uniform, darker on 

 back, silvery under the chin. Fins all salmon, with black areas toward 

 base on both dorsals and anal. Ventrals largely black. Lining of 

 opercles [)ale. 



A single specimen, in fair condition, was found by Dr. Jordan in the 

 stomach of a Red Grouper, at Pensacola. 



The species is evidently allied to Orammicolepis, Pnenes, and other 

 genera which have been lately placed in or near the Bramidce. We are 

 unable, howtn^er, to find any described genus in Avhich it can be placed, 

 and we therefore regard it as the type of a new one, Steinegeria, the char- 

 acters of which are included in the foregoing account. We may regard 

 Steinegeria for the present as a member of the family of Bramidce, though 

 the natural limits of that family are yet to be defined. We have named 

 the genus in honor of our friend, Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, of the United 

 States Natioual Museum, in recognition of his most excellent work in 

 the field of American ornithology. 



3. Serranus ocyurus, sp. nov. 



{Serranus trifurcus Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.. 1882, 273, not 

 Perca trifurca L. ) 



Very closely allied to Serranus atrarius, of which it is doubtless to 

 be regarded as a geographical variety. 



Head 2f in length (3| in total); depth 3 (4^). D. X, 11 ; A. Ill, 7. 

 Scales 5 to (}— 50— 14. Length of type (No. 37997, U. S. N. M.) 10^ 

 inches. 



The description of Serranus trifurcus mentioned above was taken 

 from young examples of this species. It applies well enough to the 

 adult, so that a repetition is unnecessary. The type of Serranus ocyurus, 

 compared with the ordinary Serranus atrarius, seems to ditter chiefly in 

 color and in the greater development of the caudal fin. There are also 

 some differences in the gill-rakers, in the scales on the cheek, and in the 

 armature of the preopercle. These differences are indicated in the fol- 

 lowing account : 



Color pale olive, somewhat darker on the back ; each side with three 

 longitudinal rows of quadrate black blotches; the uppermost series 

 obscure, along base of dorsal fin; the second distinct, and placed just 

 below lateral line, the three anterior blotches of this series somewhat 

 confluent ; the lower series very distinct, jet-black, and not confluent, 

 placed along side of belly, on the level of the axil of the pectoral. The 

 blotches in each series correspond in position to those in the other series, 

 so that, with dusky shades extending from one to another, they form 



