458 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FiSIt AND FISHERIES. 



VIII. VERILUS. 



Verilus I'tx'V, MciiioriMs (l(^ Cuba, il, 12;"), ISfiO (sordid it x). 



Type: VcrUus .sordid us Pocy. 



Etymology: "Veril, ;i Si)aiiisli word incaiiiiig' 'baut de fond coupd i\ 

 pic,' apparently an allusion to the form of the teetli. ' Ne vous mettez 

 pas en peine sur I'origine du noni, les Tncillours, ne sont pas les plus 

 C'tymologiques, par ccla meme cpi'ils ont une signiiication rarement 

 exclusive.'" [Foey.) 



The genus is tcchniciilly close to Etelis, although the single known 

 species is very different from Etelis oculatus. The cavernous character 

 of the skull is the most striking feature of the genus Verilus. 



ANALYSIS OF SPECIES OE VERILUS. 



a. Body oblong, coiupit'ssed, rather robust; caudal peduucle short and thick; head 

 large; i)rotile almost straight from suout to origiu of spinous dorsal, and not 

 at all stoep; suout very short and blunt, 4 in head; eye very largo, '1} in head; 

 interorbital space flat, its width 4? in head; occipital keel very low; preorbital 

 very narrow, 7 in eye, nearly 20 in head; maxillary reaching middle of eye, 2 in 

 head; mouth large, oblique, the lower jaw projecting; upper jaw with two mod- 

 erate canines in front ; lower jaw with two or three small canines directed nearly 

 horizontally Ijackward ; vomer with a narrowly /\-shapcd patch of teeth ; tongue 

 and pterygoids without teeth; gill-rakers numerous, their length almost half 

 diameter of eye, x-f-17; preoperclo with posterior margin weak and flexible, 

 almost entire, becoming somewhat serrate at the angle and on lower limb ; scales 

 large ; the rows horizontal below the lateral line ; those above rather irregular, 

 the scries running upward and backward; head scaly everywhere, the scales 

 generally smaller thau on body; base of soft dorsal and anal somewhat scaly; 

 spinous and soft dorsals entirely separate; first spine 41 in second, which is 2J 

 in head, the spines thence becoming gradually shorter to ninth spine, which 

 about 0((ua]s length of first spine; last rays of dorsal and anal not produced; 

 anal similar to soft dorsal, its margin rather more concave; anal spines moder- 

 ate, the tiiird slightly longer tliau second; caudal iin short, broad, moderately 

 forked, the upper lobe longer, its length scarcely twice that of middle rays; pec- 

 torals long, reaching to origin of anal, IJ, in head; pseudobranchi;e very evident. 

 Color dusky gray, slightly iialer below; tips of spinous dorsal and ventrals jot 

 black, the fins otherwise colored as the body ; posterior edge of caudal dusky; 

 lining of gill-cavity, peritoneum, and posterior part of mouth jet black. Head, 

 2?; dcpth,3. D.ix,10; A. ill, 7. Scales, 4-43-9; 41 pores SoRulDUS, 28. 



28. VERILUS SORDIDUS. (Escolar Chino.) 



rerihis sordidus I'oey, Memorias, ii, 12."), 1860, tab. 12, f. (Cuba); Poey, Repertorio, 

 II, 157, 1867; Poey, Synopsis, 291, 1868; Poey, Enumeratio, 32, 1875. 



Habitat: Al)out Cuba in deej) water. 



Etymology: SordidnSj sordid, from the dull color, in contrast with 

 the 1 (lightness of I'Jtclis oculafiis. 



This si)ecies is rarely taken in deep water oif the coast of Cuba. It 

 is known to the fishermen as Escolar chino. It has never been seen 

 elsewhere. The specimen before us was obtained in the Havana 

 market. 



