138 TELEOSTEI : ACANTHOPTERI. — XX. 
164. CERNA Bonaparte. GroupPeRs. (Epinephelus authors, not 
of Bloch.) (Italian name for the genus.) 
a. Second dorsal spine high, not lower than third or fourth; C. lunate. 
377. C. morio! (Cuv. and Val.) Rep Grouper. Preopercular 
angle little salient, without enlarged teeth. Brown, clouded with 
whitish ; lower parts flushed with orange-red; small dark spots 
about eye; vertical fins broadly edged with black. Head 2}; depth 
3. D. XI,17. A. TT, 9. Lat. 1. 106" Sie.) West Indies, 
sometimes N. to N. Y. (French, mérou ?) 
Famity LXV. LOBOTIDAG. (THE FLAsSHERs.) 
This family is closely allied to the Serranide, from which it dif- 
fers chiefly in the absence of teeth on the vomer and palatines. 
The lips are thick, the upper jaw very protractile, the lower longer, 
and the bases of the high soft dorsal and anal thickened and scaly. 
The single species is a large fish, found in most warm seas. 
165. LOBOTES Cuvier. (Ao8érns, lobed.) 
378. L. surinamensis (Bloch). FLASHER. TRIPLE-TAIL. 
Head small, the anterior profile concave, the back elevated. 
Blackish sii sides grayish, often blotched with yellowish. Head 
3; depth 2}. D. XII, 18 A. HI, 11. Lat. 1 47. LL. 3feet 
Tropics, frequently N. to N. Y. 
Famity LXVI. SPARIDAL. (THE PorGIEs.) 
Body oblong or elevated, with acherent scales which are usually 
scarcely oa Mouth various, usually terminal, the teeth of vari- 
ous forms. Premaxillaries protractile ; maxillary for its whole length 
slipping into a sheath formed by the edge of the preorbital ; gills and 
gill membranes normal; pseudobranchiz large. Preopercle serrate 
or not; opercle unarmed. Dorsal fin usually continuous, with 8 to 
13 spines; anal spines 3. V. normal, usually with an enlarged scale 
at base; lateral line continuous, not extending on C. Air-bladder 
present. Fishes of the warm seas, some carnivorous, others herbi- 
vorous, the latter with very long intestines. As here understood, a 
rather heterogeneous group of some 60 genera and nearly 500 
species, distinguished as a whole from the Serranide chiefly by the 
sheathed maxillary. Probably the group needs further subdivision. 
(ordpos, Sparus, ancient name.) 
a. Species carnivorous, with short intestines and few pyloric cxca; teeth not 
all incisor-like. 
6. Vomer with teeth; no incisors or molars; jaws with canines; D. con- 
tinuous. (Lutjanine.) 
1 Numerous related species of Cerna and Epinephelus occur off our Southern Coast, 
and come to the northern markets. For an account of these, see Jordan & Swain, 
Proc. U. 8. Nat. Mus. 1884. 
