SPAROID FISHES OF AMERICA AND EUROPE. 461 



ANALYSIS OK SPECIES OF XEXICHTHYS. 



a. Pectoral I'm falcate, about as long as the head and reaching to front of anal fin; 

 eye very largo, 2i in head; snout broad and flat; month oblique, the maxillary 

 2;i in head ; teeth quite small, those on vomer scarcely developed ; none on pala- 

 tines or tongue; lower jaw much projecting; preopercle very finely serrulate; 

 gill-rakers slender and rather long, x+17; nostrils small, oblong; the longest 

 1^ pui^il ; body compressed, the back somewhat elevated ; longest dorsal spine not 

 half length of head; soft dorsal and anal low, covered with small scales; caudal 

 forked; anal spines short, graduated, the second stouter; first soft ray of anal 

 less than i head; head, 3 in length; depth, 3. D. xi-i, 17, or 18; A. iii, 17. 

 Scales, 56. Color, steel-blue above, silvery below Agassizii, 31. 



aa. Pectoral fin short, 1^ in head, not reaching nearly to the vent; eye very large, 3 

 in head ; mouth oblique, the dentition much as in X. agassizii ; occasionally very 

 small teeth on vomer ; none on palatines or tongue ; preopercle with weak, sharp 

 scrra? on its vertical limb; gill-rakers moderate, the longest half diameter of 

 pupil. Form of the preceding; third dorsal spine longest, 1§^ in head; soft dorsal 

 and anal low, covered with small scales; caudal forked; anal spines small, 

 graduated. Head, 3 in length; depth, 3. D. xi-i, 18; A. Hi, 17, Scales, 10-54-14. 

 Color, bluish-gray, silvery below; upper parts with 7 or 8 faint blackish streaks 

 along the rows of scales; mouth yellow within in life; fins yellowish, with scat- 

 tered black specks, the edges of most of them dusky; young with two dark 

 longitudinal streaks and a faint sjiot at base of caudal X anti, 32. 



31. XENICHTHYS AGASSIZII. 



Xenichfhjjs agassizii Steindachner, Iclith. Bcitr.. iii, 6, 1875 (Galapagos Islands); 

 Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. U. S. F. C. 1881, 326 (copied). 



Habitat : Galapagos Islands. 



Etymology: Named for Louis Agassiz. 



Our specimen of this species is one of the original types, received by 

 us from the Museum of Comparative Zoology. It is very close to the 

 next species, differing chiefly in the length of the pectoral. 



32. XENICHTHYS XANTI. 



Xenichllnjs xanti Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1863, 82 (Cape San Lucas, description 

 erroneous) ; Jordan &. Gilbert, Bull. U. S. F. C. 1881, 326 (copied) ; Jordan «fc 

 Gilbert, Proc. U. S. N. M. 1882, 360 (types of X. xanti) ; Jordan & Bellman, 

 I. c, 1889, 181 (Panama). 



Xenichtlnjs xmops Jordiin & Gilbert, Bull. U. S. F. C. 1882, 325 (Panama). 



Habitat: Pacific coast of tropical America, from Cape San Lucas to 

 Panama. 



Etymology : Named for John Xantus. 



This species is rather abundant at Panama, where numerous speci- 

 mens were obtained by Prof. Gilbert. The original types of X. xanti 

 are young examples of the same species. In the original description 

 the dorsal rays were wrongly counted asxi-i, 14, the scales of the lateral 

 line described as dillereiit from the others, but no difference of any 

 importance exists. 



