338 



FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



dark greenish brown, paler on sides; about 12 narrow, vertical blackish bars on sides; fins gen- 

 erally dark; dorsal with brown stripe at base, spinous part with blue and green stripes, soft 

 rays bluish anteriorly. 



Up to this time only 2 specimens of this fish have been recorded from North 

 Carolina waters. The first, 6 inches long, was captured in a mullet net near 

 Beaufort Inlet in the fall of 1904 and presented to the Bureau of Fisheries by 

 Mr, Joseph Lewis, of the Mullet Pond Fishery, who states that during his 30 

 years' fishing experience near Beaufort he has seen only 1 other fish of this kind. 

 The second specimen was obtained near Fivers Island, Beaufort Harbor, July 15, 

 1905, by Prof. Howard E. Enders, and is now in the laboratory collection. The 

 species is abundant in Florida and the West Indies, and is eaten in considerable 

 quantities. The maximum length is about 1 foot. 



292. HEPATUS BAHIANUS (Castelnau). 



Surgeon-fish; Tang; Lancet-fish; Doctor-fish; Barber. 



Acanthurus bahianus Castelnau, Animaux Nouvelles ou Rares de TAmerique du Sud, p. 24, pi. 11, fig. 1, 1855; 



Bahia. 

 Teuthis bahianus, Jordan & Evermann, 1898, 1693, pis. ccl\-i and cclvii, figs. 629, 630. 



Diagnosis. — Form as in Hepatus hepatus; dorsal rays ix,24, longest less than .5 length of 

 head; anal rays iii,22; caudal deeply incised, the upper lobe longer and often filamentous. 

 Color: dark brown, with paler blotches below; sides with brown wavy lengthwise streaks; 

 dorsal fin with 8 dark longitudinal lines and a black' edge; caudal with light blue or whitish 

 margin, (bahianus, relating to Bahia.) 



Fig. 151. Surgeon-fish; Tang. Hepatus bahianus. 



This surgeon-fish is common at Key West and thence throughout the West 

 Indies. It is now recorded for the first time from North Carolina. On October 

 11, 1905, Mr. S. G. Worth obtained from a local fisherman at Beaufort a speci- 

 men 5.5 inches long which is now in the laboratory at that place. This species 

 reaches somewhat over a foot in length, and in Florida, Porto Rico, and the 

 Danish West Indies is of considerable importance as food. 



