ADDENDA — SCHULTZ 159 



Serranus geographicus Cuvier and Valenciennes, Histoire naturelle des poissons, 

 vol. 2, p. 322 (240), 1828 (type locality, Java).— Gunthek, Catalogue of the 

 fishes in the British Museum, vol. 1, p. 150, 1859 (Java). 



Batrachus gigas GtJNTHER, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 4, vol. 3, p. 131, 1869 

 (Seychelles) . 



Promicro'ps itaiara Stead, Fishes of Australia, pp. 96, 103, 1906 (Queensland). — 

 Stead, The edible fishes of New South Wales, p. 58, pi. 28, 1908 (mouth of 

 Richmond and Clarence Ilivers, Northern Australia). — Smith, Journ. Siam 

 Soc, Natural History Supplement, vol. 9, No. 1, p. 85, 1933 (Siam). 



SPECIMENS STUDIED 



Photographs of a specimen caught Jan. 2, 1955, Eniwetok Atoll, total length 

 74 inches, weight 34154 pounds. 



Photographs of a specimen caught Aug. 10, 1955, off Parry Island, Eniwetok 

 Atoll, depth 20 to 35 feet, on hook and line by Masonori Nishi, total length 

 l^Yi inches, weight 337}4 pounds. 



Photographs of a specimen caught Aug. 20, 1955, at Eniwetok Atoll, by Lowell 

 Kupau by hook and Hne, total length 81 H inches, weight 414 pounds. 



Photograph of a specimen caught Feb. 26, 1956, at Enyu Island, Bikini Atoll, 

 by Robert Schook and Pitts Joyner. About this large specimen Dr. Robert 

 Hiatt writes: "This fish weighed 471 lbs. and had a total length of 7 ft. 7 inches. 

 It was taken on a specially forged hook and airplane cable leader tied to a 800 

 lb. test nylon line. It is the largest of this species taken in the Marshalls insofar 

 as is known. When caught it had a veritable nest of lines and hooks in its mouth." 

 This specimen is only 4 lbs. lighter than the world record size. 



Description. — Detailed measurements of these specimens are 

 recorded in table 138 and counts in table 137. 



Remarks.— In order to identify with confidence the giant sea basses 

 caught at Eniwetok, I made detailed measurements and counts on 

 the specimens available in the national collections. It was found 

 that the Promicrops of the western Atlantic was closely related to 

 that of the Indo-Pacific. No direct comparison of these two species 

 had been made, and it was possible that they were identical. How- 

 ever, my studies revealed that P. lanceolatus and P. itaiara are strik- 

 ingly different in color pattern when very small and in the immature 

 stage as illustrated in plates 147 and 148. Certain counts recorded in 

 table 138 indicate differences between the two species. The best 

 such characters are pectoral and soft dorsal rays. 



H. M. Smith (Nat. Geog. Mag. 637-644, May 1909) published a 

 popular article on "Some Giant Fishes of the Seas." On page 639 

 he states there are 3 species of sea bass or jew-fishes that rank among 

 the largest spiny finned fishes. Smith says the spotted jew-fish 

 {Promicrops itaiara) of the West Indies reaches 600 pounds; the black 

 jew-fish {Garrupa nigrita) 500 pounds, and the California jew-fish 

 {Stereolepis gigas) 600 pounds. Since Dr. Smith does not cite actual 

 catch records for these large sizes, we must cast doubt on the authen- 

 ticity of them. However, Smith (Mid-Pacific Mag., vol. 29, No. 3, 



