22 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY II. 



tweezers or seen with a hiiiid-glass. The appendages of the anterior 

 gill-arch only are thus enlarged, those of the other arches remaining 

 undevek^ped. 



In Xenotis^ the gill rakers are not essentially dissimilar on the differ- 

 ent arches. They are short, comparatively thick, soft, having a cartila- 

 ginous or unossifled basis, and are nearly destitute of teeth or tooth like 

 roughnesses. The brilliant colors, low dorsal spines, and especially the 

 great development of the opercular flap in Xenotis, form additional dis- 

 tinctive characters, although not independently of generic value. 



13. XENOTIS SOLIS, ( Valenciennes) Gill & Jordan. 



Pomoiis soils, *Valenciennes (1831), Hist. Nat. des Poisaons, vii, 468. (Specimens sent 

 by Le Sueur from mar New Orleans. Those referred to from New York doubt- 

 less belong to Lepiopomus auritns.) 



Numerous specimens of a sun-fish from the Tangipahoa River, Lou- 

 isiana, have been identified by us with Valencienues's species as above, 

 and examples have been distributed by the United States National Mu- 

 seum under the name of Xenotis soHs. Of course, it is not possible from 

 Valenciennes's description to know certainly which one of our numerous 

 similar species he had in mind, but it is safer to identify with the pres- 

 ent species than with any other, and our X. soils does not seem ever to 

 have received any other name. 



Xenotis soils is an elongate species for the genus, most of the species 

 of which are short and deep. It is, however, heavy forward, the re- 

 gion before the dorsal being quite i^rominent, forming a marked angle 

 over the eye with the rising profile of the face. The greatest depth is 

 2^ in the length. The head is large, 3 in length, without the opercular 

 flap ; 2^ including the flap. 



* The following is Valenciennes's description : — 



Le PoMOTis SUN-FISH (Pomotis soils nob.). 



Un autre pomotis du lac Pontcbartrain, envoyd par M. Le Sueur, pourrait bien encore 

 ^tre d'uno espece distincte- 



La couleur parait d'etre nn jaune verd^tre uniform, plus ou moins dord, sans aucune 

 trace de taches ou de raies sur le corps et sur les nageoires. Le lambeau do I'oreille 

 est plus long et plus 6troit que dans aucun autre. Les uombres sont, D. 10-11 : A. 3- 

 10, etc. 



II e>t long de quatre k cinq pouces. 



Les Anglo-Am6ricains de la Nouvelle-Oildans donnent h cette espece le nom de sun- 

 fsli '^poisson de soleil). M. Le Sueur ne nous explique pas ce qui a motiv6 cette 

 ddnomination. 



Nous rapportons a cette espfece des individus mal colords, qui nous out €t6 envoyds 

 de New York par M. Milbert. 



