8 PEOCEEMNGS OP THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 66 



<f. Spinous dorsal deep red throughout in life; no white rays on dorsal, 



anal, ventral nor caudal berndti. 



c'. Body chiefly pale bluish or grayish in life; vertical fins each with a 



broad black area posteriorly adustus. 



5^ Edge of opercle without black ; axil faintly dusky ; depth 2.75 in length. 



argyromus. 

 &^ Scales smaller, 34 to 42 in lateral line, a few smaller ones behind not 

 counted. 



e\ Dorsal fin with 14 to 15 soft rays ; scales 34 to 37. 



f. Edge of opercle and axil pale, without dark bar ; soft dorsal 15 ; 



anal 13; scales 37; depth 2.5 in length; colors pale sealei 



f. Edge of opercle and axil with a dark bar. 



(/\ Fins all red in life ; soft dorsal rays 15, anal 14 ; scales 36. 



symmetricus. 

 ff. Fins mostly golden yellow in life, with red shades and edg- 

 ings ; soft dorsal 14; anal 12; scales 84 chryseres, 



a^ Dorsal fin with 16 to 18 soft rays ; anal rays 15 ; scales smaller than in 

 other species, 40 to 43 with pores ; edge of opercle and axil of pectoral 

 dark red, becoming black; body and fins deep red, with faint stripes 

 along the rows of scales; outer rays of soft fins white, some yellow 

 shades on dorsal ; size averaging smaller than other species. 



multiradiatus. 



Of these species, the present collection includes murdjan, ierndtij J 

 symmetricus, and multiradiatus, all of which are common at Hono- 

 lulu. Of the last two I have nothing to add. 



MYRIPRISTIS MURDJAN (Forskill). 



This fish, known as U'u, is very abundant, constantly seen in the 

 markets, and usually more common than all other species of Myri- 

 pristis taken together. This is apparently the original Sciaena 

 murdjan of Forskal, described from the Eed Sea. Riippell's figure,® 

 drawn from a j^oung example from the same region, shows the last 

 rays of dorsal and anal, and the next to outer rays of caudal, very 

 dark red or blackish. This coloration (var. intermedium Giinther) 

 is shown in the young of mu7'djan, but disappears entirely with age. 

 In M. murdjan the developed scales of the lateral line, those bearing 

 pores, are 29 to 32, the soft rays in the dorsal 14. In Riippell's 

 figure the number of scales represented is much too large, but 

 Klunzinger counts correctly 30 in his material from the Red Sea. 



MYRIPRISTIS BERNDTI Jordan and Evermann. 



This is certainly a valid species, distinguished from M. murdjan 

 by the color. The body is a shade paler than in M. 77iurdjan, with 

 paler shades or faint streaks along the margin of each row of scales. 

 (In the figure given by Jordan and Evermann, the pale shades are 

 incorrectly shown as lying along the middle of each scale row.) 

 The dorsal fin in M. herndti is plain uniform red, the spinous part 

 red throughout ; the first soft ray of dorsal, anal, and caudal is deep 



8 Fische Rotli, Meer.,, p. 86, pi. 23, to fig. 2. 



