NO. 2294. FISHES FROM WEST AFRICA— FOWLER. 277 



eye edge. Interorbital depressed, scarcely or very slightly convex. 

 Rakers about 10+25, lanceolate, nearly three-fourths of filaments, 

 and latter about two-thirds of eye. Isthmus narrow frenum. Scales 

 largely caducous, all narrowly imbricated, very deep along side; 

 circuli very fine and mostly continuous above and below. Top of 

 head with two longitudinal arborescent areas in each mastoid region. 

 Lateral line not complete beyond middle of caudal peduncle; large 

 tubes arborescent below. Dorsal inserted about last fourth in space 

 between hind eye edge and caudal base; in smaller examples at last 

 fourth between front eye edge and caudal base; last branched ray 

 about 1§ of first. Anal inserted near first third of dorsal base; fin 

 small. Caudal well forked; upper lobe about three-fourths of lower. 

 Pectoral large, 2\ to ventral; about 2| in younger. Ventral inserted 

 much nearer caudal than pectoral base. 



Color in alcohol dull olive-brown on back, sides, and below paler or 

 silvery white. Underlaid leaden band along dark color of back, not 

 quite wide as pupil, from shoulder to caudal base. Dorsal, caudal, 

 and pectoral pale brownish; other fins whitish. Iris pale. Length, 

 305 to 382 mm. (Caudal tips and beaks of several damaged.) 

 Loando. Six examples. 



These fall into two groups, one with longer pectorals and slightly 

 fewer anal rays, or 8 to 10 branched contrasted with 11 branched in 

 the short-pectoral pair of examples. The long pectoral having been 

 offered as an alleged character for several closely allied species, an 

 examination of the following material in the Academy results. 



A Porto Rico specimen, 254 mm. long, shows the pectoral about 

 1^ in head from upper jaw tip, 10 branched anal rays, and rakers 

 9-f-25. Three Hawaiian examples, largest 355 mm., all have a long 

 pectoral, which about long as head without beak, 10 or 11 branched 

 anal rays, and rakers 11+25. They represent H. depauperatiis, 

 Lay and Bennett,^ and do not appear to differ in any but trivial 

 characters from the African examples. Of three small New Jersey 

 examples, largest 190 mm., the pectoral is IJ to If in head; branched 

 anal rays 11, and rakers 12 + 25. Another example I obtained in 

 Chesapeake Bay, 328 mm. long, has pectoral U, branched anal rays 

 11, and rakers 8 + 22. An examination of scales from examples 

 representing all of the above, besides others from other parts of the 

 West Indies, reveals no grounds for specific distinctions. The circuli 

 are all very fine and complete. 



The only distinction for HemirJiampJius halao, Le Sueur, ^ which is 

 described with "the tail yellow and bluish," appears to be the 

 ''caudal fin black." Eemirhamphus macrocJiirus, Poey,^ is based 



1 Zool. Beechey's Voy., 1839, p. 66. Oahu. 



« Joum. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. 2, 1823, p. 136. Caribbean Sea near Guadeloupe, Martinique, and 

 Domingo. 

 3 Memor. H. N. Cuba, vol. 2, 1861, p. 29 



