SPAROID FISHES OF AMERICA AND EUROPE. 457 



ANALYSIS OF AMERIC^VN SPECIES OF ETELIS. 



a. Body elongate, fusiform ; caudal peduucle long, slender ; profile convex; on snout, 

 tlience straiglitish to occiput; the nape low, not keeled; snout short, rather 

 pointed, 3^ in head ; eye very large, 3 in head ; preorbital very narrow, its least 

 width 14 in head; mouth moderate, oblique, the lower jaw projecting; maxil- 

 lary reaching middle of eye, 2i\, in head, its surface scaly; two canines of 

 upper jaw very sharp and projecting forward and' downward; canines of lower 

 jaw not difl'erentiated ; tongue without teeth; vomer with a narrow A-shai)ed 

 patch of teeth ; gill-rakers long and slender ; opercle ending in an evident spine ; 

 maxillary with about 12 scales; region behind eye well scaled; top of head and 

 snout naked; lower jaw with a few imbedded scales; base of soft dorsal and 

 anal scaleless; dorsal spines rather high and strong, the longest spine 2 in head, 

 the spines thence becoming almost regularly and gradually shorter to last spine, 

 which is little longer than first spine; margin of soft dorsal straight, the rays 

 3 in head, the last ray slightly elongate; anal similar to soft dorsal; its last ray 

 considerably produced; anal sjjines slender and graduated; caudal very deeply 

 forked, the upper lobe the longer, its length four times length of middle rays; 

 upper lobe almost filamentous, longer than head ; pectorals falciform, reaching 

 almost to anal, 1^ in head. Color in life, brilliant rose-red; bases of the scales 

 deeper and belly abruptly paler rosy ; mouth reddish within ; lining of gill-cavity 

 reddish ; fins all rosy ; spinous dorsal and caudal bright red, the other fins paler. 

 Head, 3i; depth, 3h D. x, 11 ; A. iii, 8. Scales, 5-53-12 ; 50 pores. Ocdlatus, 27. 



27. ETELIS OCULATUS. (Cachucho.) 



Serranus oculatus Cuv. &, Val., ii, 1828, 266 (Martinique). 



Elaxtoma ociilatus, Swainaou, Nat. Hist. Fishes, ii, 168, 202, 1839 (generic diagnosis). 



Hesperantliias ucidatas, Lowe, Fishes Madeira, 1843, 14 (generic description). 



Centropristis oculatus, Miiller & Troschel, in Schomb. Hist. Barbadoes, 666, 1848. 



Anthias octdutiis, Giiiither, i, 92, 1859 (Jamaica, Madeira). 



Etelis ocuJaius, Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1862,447 (Cuba); Poey, Synopsis, 292, 



1868 (Cuba); Poey, Enumeratio, 31, 1875; Jordan »&. Swain, 1. c. 

 Macrops oculatus, Dum6ril, Ichth. Analytique, 1856, 279 {fide Gill). 



Habitat : West Indies. 



Etymology: Oculatus^ furnislied witli eyes; a reference to its large 

 eyes. 



This very beautiful species is abundant in tlie markets of Havana, 

 where it is known as cachucho. It is found in rather deep water, with 

 such forms as Lutjanus vivanus, huccaneUa, mahogom, Rhomboplites 

 aurorubens, Aprioti macrophthalmus, and Apsilua dentatus. These fishes 

 are a little lower down in the bathymetric scale than Lutjanus aya, 

 which in turn inhabits deeper water than the other Lutjani. In still 

 deeper water is found Verilus sordidus^ which is a true deep-water fish. 

 The cachucho reaches a length of 2 feet or more, and is esteemed 

 as a food-fish. The synonymy of the specdes offers no comijlications, 

 although its generic relations have been often misuiulerstood. This and 

 some other Cuban Lutjarilnw bear considerable resemblance to certain 

 Japanese types, but it is improper to regard them as specifically 

 identical with their Asiatic representatives until specimens have been 

 fully compared. 



