323 FISHES 



Family HIPPOCAMPIDvE (Sea Horses). • 

 Hippocampus punctulatus Guichenot (Sea Horse). 

 Tropical parts of the Atlantic, common in the West Indies. One speci- 

 men collected by the Expedition at Governors Harbor, July 7, 1903. 



Family BALISTID.^] (Trigger-fishes). 

 Balistes vetula Linngens (Old-wife). 

 This important species is common in the tropical parts of the Atlantic, 

 throughout the West Indies and north to Florida, Bahama and Bermuda. It 

 is a showy fish in life and the young, which are quite numerous around the 

 coral heads of the Bahamas, add much to the beauty of the fish life seen there. 

 Collected and observed by the Expedition in considerable numbers at 

 various points visited during June and July, 1903. Common in the Nassau 

 market. 



Balistes carolinensis Gmelin (Turbot). 

 Found in the tropical parts of the Atlantic, ranging northward in the 

 Gulf Stream to the New England coast. Common in the Mediterranean. The 

 flesh is eaten and the skin is used for polishing purposes. " Trigger-fish " and 

 " leather- jacket " are other common names for this species. Several young 

 specimens were taken by the Expedition in the Gulf weed north of Abaco dur- 

 ing July, 1903. 



Canthidermis maculatus (Bloch) (Eough-skinned Turbot). 

 So far as the records go this is a rare species. It inhabits the open ocean 

 of the West Indies and has received the name of " ocean turbot." One speci- 

 men was obtained by the Expedition in floating gulf weed- about sixty miles 

 north of Abaco during July, 1903. Young, If inches long. 



Family MONACANTHID.^ (File-fishes). 

 MONACANTHUS SPILOXOTUS CopO (Filc-fish). 



The habitat of this species is recorded as Gulf of Mexico. AVe obtained it 

 on the edge of the Gulf Stream, June 6, 1903, not far from Cape Hatteras, 

 and July 15 at Clarence Harbor, and east end of Hog Island, July 30, 1903. 

 Common in the latter places. 



Cantherixes pullus (Kanzani) (Lija Colorada). 

 West Indies and Brazil, north to southern Florida. Obtained by the 

 steamer Albatross at Nassau, x\pril 33, 1886. 



