342 FISHES OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



rays about 32; caudal fan-shaped, the margin rounded; pectorals less than twice diameter of 

 eye. Color: nearly uniform green, the shade varying from grass green to olive; irregular faint 

 whitish spots on back and sides; fins transparent greenisli. {hispidus, bristly.) 



This species is found from southern Massachusetts to Brazil, and is com- 

 mon throughout its range. It is extremely abundant on the North Carolina 

 coast, where it is known as "fool-fish". In July, 1903, during a period of 5 days, 

 over 600 were seined in Beaufort Harbor, mostly on Bird Shoal; these were 1 

 to 3 inches long. A series of young collected in sargassum-weed in the Gulf 

 Stream off Beaufort July 27, 1901, had individuals .38 to 1.75 inches long. The 

 maximum length of the species is 10 inches. Numerous specimens examined 

 at Beaufort by Professor Linton were found to have eaten bryozoans, small 

 crustaceans and moUusks, gastropod eggs, annelids, small sea-urchins, and algse. 



Genus CERATACANTHUS Gill. FUe-fishes ; Fool-fishes. 



Moderate-sized shore fishes, with somewhat elongate, strongly compressed 

 body; projecting lower jaw; very oblique gill-openings much longer than eye and 

 extending in advance of eye; a long, curved pelvic bone without a spinous extrem- 

 ity; single small, slender, barbless dorsal spine inserted over middle of eye; soft 

 dorsal widely separated from the spine, its rays numerous (35 to 50); anal fin 

 similar to soft dorsal; caudal fin more or less elongate; pectoral fins very small. 

 Numerous species, in all warmer parts of the world; 4 American species, 2 of 

 which are here noted.* 



i. Color variable — dusky olive, orange yellow, or wliitish — without definite spots; anterior pro- 

 file convex; depth of body in adult .5 length schoepfii. 



ii. Color light brown, with numerous dark brown roimd spots half diameter of pupU; anterior 

 profile concave; depth of body in adult .4 length punctatus. 



{Ceratacanthus, horn spine.) 



295. CERATACANTHUS SOHCEPFII (Walbaum). 

 File-fish; Fool-fish; Devil-fish. 



Balisies schccpfii Walbaum, Artedi Genera Piscium, 461, 1792; Long Island, N. Y. 



Alutera cuspicauda, Yarrow, 1877, 204; Beaufort. Jordan & Gilbert, 1879, 367; Beaufort. 



Ceratacanthus aurantiacus, Yarrow, 1877, 204; Beaufort. 



Alutera aurantiaca, Jordan & Gilbert, 1879, 367; Beaufort. 



Alutera schoepfii, Jordan, 1886, 30; Beaufort. Jordan & Evermann, 1898, 1718, pi. xxlx, fig. 636. Linton, 



1905, 401; Beaufort. 

 Ceratacanthus schoepfii, Jordan & Evermann, 1898, 2860. 



Diagnosis. — Depth about .5 length in adult, less in young; caudal peduncle slender, 2 

 times diameter of eye; head .33 length; profile from mouth to dorsal spine slightly convex; 

 lower jaw somewhat the longer, chin projecting; snout nearly as long as head and 4 times diam- 

 eter of eye; eye under dorsal spine and over posterior part of gill opening; giU-opening twice 

 diameter of eye; scales minute, rough, completely covering body and head; dorsal spine slender, 

 its length varying with age, about 2 times length of eye in adults; soft dorsal rays about 36, 

 anal rays 38, the fins low; caudal long, slender, becoming shorter in old specimens; pectorals 

 short, about twice diameter of eye. Color: adults dirty gray, orange, or whitish; young dirty 

 white, mottled or blotched with reddish brown or sometimes showing dark and light longitu- 



• A third species, Ceratacanthus acriptus, has occasionally been taken as far north as South Carolina. 



