REVIEW OF THE PARBOTFISHES 121 



forked in adults; short stubby canine teeth develop on sides of dental 

 plates of upper jaw, and in our largest specimen, 285 mm. in standard 

 length, are 6 to 8 of them; this species like some others, may have some 

 small interlocking canine teeth at suture of dental plate of upper jaw. 



The color pattern is variable. One of the conmionest is the grayish 

 mottled pattern with scattered pale or white spots, and with the nasal 

 tentacle milk colored. In the brownish color phase the caudal fin and 

 the underside of lower jaw are barred, a common characteristic of 

 other species of Sparisoma. 



A small dark blotch on dorsal edge of caudal peduncle at midlength 

 and another at base of rays of upper caudal fin are characteristic at 

 standard lengths up to 100 mm., or even longer ; caudal fin is crossed by 

 about 3 dark bars, the widest white bar occurs in basal part of caudal 

 fin; at a length of 180 mm. the central region of caudal fin is white; 

 scale opposite upper edge of opercular opening is blackish; the imma- 

 ture, up to 80 mm., may have a wide dusky band from behind eye 

 along midside but at the point about opposite midlength of pectoral 

 fin this band is not intensified as in aurofrenatum; area in front of eye 

 and on side of snout usually has a reticulated pattern of dark circles 

 in specimens of about 80 to 160 mm. or longer. 



Since the genus Sparisoma is not represented in the Pacific Ocean 

 except by the market specimen described by Meek and Hildebrand 

 as S. elongatum, and since that specimen is exactly the same as S. 

 chrysopterum, the most abundant species of the genus in the Atlantic, 

 all evidence indicates this specimen may have been caught in the 

 Atlantic and transported to the Panama City market where it was 

 obtained, 



I have examined many lots of this species, some of which contain 

 a large number of specimens, from the following localities: Bermuda, 

 4; Tortugas Island, 10; Florida, 27; Florida Keys, 18; Antigua, 1; 

 Cuba, 10; Haiti, 4; Bahamas, 2; Puerto Rico, 11; St. Croix, 1; Old 

 Providence Island, 2; Sabinilla, 1; Barbados, 2; Cozumel, 4; Panama, 

 6; Curacao, 2; New Providence Island, 1; Nassau, 2; St. Lucia, 1; 

 Jamaica, 2; West Indies, 4. Also, 25 lots from Bermuda were loaned 

 by the Chicago Natural History Museum and 22 lots from the Ba- 

 hamas were loaned by Dr. Bohlke. 



I have not seen a specimen of this species from the East Atlantic. 



Sparisoma abildgaardi (Bloch) 



Plates 4,c; 24, a,b 



Sparus abildgaardi Bloch, Naturgeschite der auslandisohen Fische, vol. 5, p. 22, 



pi. 259, 1791 (type locality: America). 

 Scarus coccineus Bloch and Schneider, Systema ichthyologiae . . . , p. 289, 1801 



(type locality: Cuba; based on Parra 1787). 



