86. SEREANID^ TRISOTROPIS. 537 



about 15 on lower jiart of arch; pectorals rather short, about | the 

 length of the head ; ventrals 2-2.J in head ; first 2 dorsal spines ^ery 

 short, the third very high, much higher than any of the others; second 

 spine one-third to one-fourth length of third, which is longer than 

 snout and orbit; second anal spine as long as third; top of head closely 

 scaled to beyond front of eyes. Head 2f ; depth 3J ; eye less than half 

 the snout. D. X, I, 14; A. Ill, 7; Lat. I. 80. L. 18 inches. Coast of 

 California, from Monterey southward ; abundant. 



(Labrax nebulifcr GiTaid,Froc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1854, 142 : Paralahrax nchidlfcr 

 Giranl, U. S. Pac. R. R. Surv. x, 33, jjI. xii: rarahibrax ncbiiUfer Glinthor, J,G'J; Steiu- 

 (lachuer, Icbthyol. Bcitriigo, iii, 1.) 



tt Serne on lower edge of preopercle, large, spur-like, directed forward. {Plectropoma* 

 Cuvier.) 



843. S. clBBorBirBJS (C. & V.) J. «& G.—Negrita. 



Color uniform blackish, strongly tinged with violet; pectoral and 

 caudal yellow. Mouth rather large, the maxillary without supplemental 

 bone, extending to the front of the pupil; lower jaw projecting; nine 

 rows of scales on the cheek ; preopercle finely serrate above, its lower 

 margin withseveral antrorse teeth. Body elevated, somewhat com- 

 pressed. Pectoral loug, extending beyond ventrals ; caudal forked ; sec- 

 ond and third spines of anal about equal. Head 2§ ; depth 2|. D. 

 X, 15 ; A. Ill, 7; Lat. 1. about G5. West Indies, north to Garden Key, 

 Florida. 



{Plectropoma chlorurnm Ciiv. & Val. Hist. Nat. Poiss. ii, 406, 1828 : P. chloruriim- 

 Giinther, i, 167: P. chlornrum Vaill. &. Boc. Miss. Sci. Mex. iv, 104: Plcelropoman'igri- 

 caHs Poey, Memorias Cuba, i, 71, 1851: Hypoplectrus nifjricans Poey, Synopsis Pise. 

 Cubens. 290.) 



275.— TRISOTROPIS Gill. 



(Parepinephelus Bleeker.) 



(Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1865, 104: type Perca guttata Bloch.) 



Characters of Upinephelus, except that the lateral crests on the cra- 

 nium arc well developed, like the median one. "This genus is recog- 

 nizable externally by its oblong form, the peculiar structure of the nos- 

 trils, the form of the fins, etc., but is more especially distinguished by 

 the development of the skull, which differs in a very marked manner 



* Cuvier, Regne Aniui. ii, 142, 1829: tyyie Bodkin us maculntux Blocli. This group 

 has been separatcul from Serranus on account of the strong antrorse teeth of the lower 

 edge of the preopercle. It has been dividcMl by Professor Gill into several genera, 

 which have been adopted and defined by Professor Poi^y, but their necessity is not 

 evident. It is at best an artificial group, and some; of the current species (/'. a/rum, 

 etc.) heloug to Epinejihclua. {TtAf/x^poy, si)ur; itSiiia operculum.) 



