114 BULLETIN 214, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



the first to appear, at a standard length of about 25 mm., or shorter; 

 in larger specimens (this never occurs in any other species of Spari- 

 soma) these canines occupy a ridge on dental plate. It is a small 

 species, the largest specimen observed by me measuring 156 mm. in 

 standard length; the interorbital space is flattish to slightly convex; 

 anterior nasal tentacle broad, simple, and reaches past posterior nos- 

 tril; head dorsally speclded with brown; a pair of brown spots occur in 

 interorbital space of the immature, and the distance between centers 

 of nostrils is contained 2^ times in distance between this pair of brown 

 spots; vertical line through anterior nostril passes through center of 

 anterior scale on cheek; caudal fin rounded distally; cutI occur on 

 membranes between dorsal spines, just behind tips of spines, appear- 

 ing at about 40 mm. in standard length; a distinct dark bar occurs 

 near base of pelvic fins on specimens shorter than 40 mm., making 

 it possible to distinguish this species at about 18 nam. in standard 

 length, before the canine teeth develop; between 25 and 40 mm. in 

 standard length a somewhat striped color phase occurs in which 5 or 

 6 dark streaks are separated by narrower light streaks. 



I have examined a large number of specimens in lots from the follow- 

 ing localities: Southern Florida, 16 lots; Key West, 12; Tortugas 

 Island 14; Florida Keys, 8; Bahama Islands, 3; Cuba, 12; Puerto 

 Rico, 15; Haiti, 2; Jamaica, 1; St. Thomas, 2; St. Lucia, 2; Cozumel, 

 5; Old Providence Island, 1; Panama, 34; Colombia, 1; Curacao, 2; 

 Bahia, Brazil, 2; 44 lots from Bermuda, loaned by Loren P. Woods, 

 Chicago Natural History Museum and 24 lots from the Bahamas, 

 loaned by Dr. Bohlke. 



I have not seen a specimen from the East Atlantic. 



Sparisoma viridis (Bonnaterre) 



Figure 28 



Scarus viridis Bonnaterre, in Encyclopedia m6thodique, tableau encyclopfidique 



et m6thodique des trois rfegnes de la nature . . . , Ichthyologie, vol. 6, p. 



96, pi. 50, fig. 193, 1788 (based on Catesby 1731; type locality: Bahamas). 

 Scarus catesby Lacepfede, Histoire naturelle des poissons, vol. 4, pp. 4, 16, 1803 



(based on Catesby 1731). 

 Scarus catesbaei Lac^p^de in Cuvier and Valenciennes, Histoire naturelle des 



poissons, vol. 14, p. 183, 1839 (based on Catesby 1731). 

 Callyodon psittacus (not of Linnaeus) Gronow in Gray, Catalogue of fishes collected 



and described by L. T. Gronow, p. 84, 1854. 

 Scarus nielanotis Bleeker, Versl. Akad. Amsterdam, vol. 14, p. 126, 1862 (type 



locality: St. Croix). 

 Sparisoma viride Winn and Bardach, Science, vol. 125, pp. 885-886, 1957. 



This species is"i_represented^by specimens between 200 and 270 

 mm. in standard length in the national collections. I have not seen 

 the young of Sparisona viridis. 



