07. EPHIPPID.E — CH^TODIPTERUS. G13 



species, closely related to the CJuvtodojifSj but sai<l to show iin;)oi'taiit 

 ilitiereuces in the skeleton. Irishes mostly of large size, in wanu seas, 

 sonietiuies entering rivers. 



(Squami2)iiiiics part; genera Scatopha'jus, Ephippus, aud Drcpaiic, Giiiitlior, ii, 57-05.) 



a. Anal spines H; dorsal spines 8 or 9, the third prolonged ; prolilc very steep ; scaks 

 small Cii-KTODiPTEUCS, :5vJ7. 



32?',— CH/ETTODHPTEKUS Lacdpede. 

 ( Pa ) -eplt ipp us Gill.) 



(Laocp^de, Hist. Nat. Poiss. iv, .503, 160^: typ;; Cluclodon plnmicri B\och = Chcrtodon 

 fahcr Bronss.) 



Body much elevated and compressed, its outline nearly orbicular, the 

 anterior profile nearly vertical. Scales small, 55-70 in the course of the 

 lateral line. Jaws about equal; no teeth on vomer or palatines; teeth 

 on jaws slender, somewhat movable; preopercle finely serrulate. Bran- 

 chiostegals C. Dorsal fins 2, somewhat connected, the first of usually 'J 

 spines, the third of which is elongate ; anal spines d^ small, the second 

 the longest; ventral Avith a large accessory scale. Pyloric ccsca 4-l>. 

 American, distinguished from the Asiatic genus Ephippus by the very 

 much smaller scales, [ya'-oduj'j^ Chjetodon; (J;?, two; -rzpir^, fin, the 

 dorsal being divided.) 



S>C2o C. f;aber (Bronss.) J. & G.—Angd-finU; rorgee. 



Grayish ; a dusky band across the eye to the throat ; a second similar 

 band, broader, beginning in front of the dorsal and extending across the 

 base of the pectoral to the belly; a third band, narrower, extending to 

 the middle of the sides, from the base of the fourth and fiftli dois:il 

 spines; a fourth broader band from the last dorsal spine to the anal 

 spines, the remaining bands alternately short and long; all of these 

 bands growing obscure and disapjjearing with age; ventrals black. 

 Vertical fins low in the young, falcate in the adult. Third dorsal 

 spine nearly as long as from eye to edge of preopercle, its membrane 

 blackish; chin with a row of pores; preorbital nearly as wide as eye; 

 ])ectoral considerably shorter than ventral, the first soft ray of the latter 

 filamentous. Head 3-3 i ; depth l',. 1). VIII-I, 20; A. lU, 18; Lat. 

 1. GO; coeca 4-6. L. 2 feet. Warm seas; north to San Diego aud oS^ew 

 York; abundant on our South Atlantic coast; an excellent foodlisli. 

 Very large .specimens, which v.e sni)i)ose to be old individuals, but which 

 may possibly be a distinct species {Ephippus gujas Cuv.), have the occi- 

 pital crest and anterior iuterhajmals developed in thick bony masses. 



{Cha'iodon fahcr I3roussonet, Ichtli. D(!cas. 1, v, t. 4, 1782: Chwlodou fubir Gniel. Syst. 

 Nat. i, Vid'i, 1789: Zeus quadra tns Gmch I.e. 1225; Giiuther, ii, Gl: Epli'jjpus gigas (Juvier, 



