CENTRARCHIDZ. 23 
The eye is quite large, 4in the head proper; 13 times in the oper 
cular flap. 
The opercular flap is quite long and narrow, narrowly bordered with 
pale throughout its length; its length is contained about 24 times in 
the length of the rest of the head, its width is little more than half its 
length. It is somewhat broadened toward the tip, and is set obliquely 
upward and backward. Much variation in the size and form of this 
appendage may be expected. - 
The dorsal spines are moderately developed, rather high for the 
genus, the longest as long as from snout to middle of orbit. The caudal 
peduncle in this species is rather more than usually elongate: with the 
caudal fin it forms about one-third of the total length. 
The scales on the cheek are rather large, in five or six rows. There 
are 39 scales in the lateral line; about five rows above and eleven be- 
low it. Fin-rays as usual, D. X, 10; A. III, 9. 
The coloration has been modified by the alcohol. It seems to have 
been chiefly of a greenish or golden orange in life, with numerous small 
pale blue spots. Blue lines on the sides of the head and in front of the 
eyes. The fins, now unicolor, were probably largely orange in life. 
This species is related to X. inscriptus and X. megalotis. It is longer- 
bodied and has higher spines than fallax, breviceps, megalotis, and san- 
guinolentus. 
Its spines are much higher than in lythrochloris and the flap is differ- 
ent. X. inscriptus, aureolus, marginatus, and peltastes are smaller, less 
elongate, and have a different flap. In some respects it approaches 
nearer Lepiopomus auritus than do any of the above species, and speci- 
mens of the auritus were apparently confounded with it by Valen- 
ciennes. 
14. XENOTIS SANGUINOLENTUS, (Agassiz) Jordan. 
Pomotis sanguinolentus, AGASSIZ, Am. Journ. Sci. Arts, 1854, 301. - 
This handsome species seems to be widely distributed in the Southern 
States ; I have seen specimens from the Tennessee, Savannah, Alabama, 
and Mississippi Rivers. It represents, in the South, X. megalotis of the 
Northern States. X. sangwinolentus may be known by the rather higher 
spines—the longest as long as from snout just past middle of pupil—and 
by a peculiarity of coloration, blue spots on the sides being arranged in 
vertical chain-like bands, which are striking and conspicuous even after 
the fish has been long in alcohol. 
