200 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. io5 



outer third of fost 7 or 8 rays of anal fin heavy black, remainder pale; 

 tips of outer rays of caudal fin black; pectoral fin pale to transparent; ; 

 1st and 2d ray of pelvic fin slightl}^ milky, remainder pale or clear; 

 snout and interorbital portion of liead with enlarged or swollen, pale or • 

 milky jellylike tissue; barbel pale, some dusky near base; jaws dusky; ; 

 iris silvery to light golden ; body above lateral line darker, particularly 

 predorsal area, due to heavier blackish pigmentation on posterior 

 portion of scale just before ctenii; body below lateral line pale, silvery 

 or light blue iridescence; a stripe of silvery along lower part of caudal 

 peduncle, on each side, joining anteriorlj^ on belly between bases of 

 pelvic fins. Coloration of gravid females ranging in standard length 

 from 127 mm. or larger: dorsal fin with some dusky or blackish at 

 outer portion of longest rays; anal fin pale, in some slightly milky; 

 caudal fin sometimes dusky at tips of outer rays; pectoral and pelvic 

 fins clear or pale; body generally lighter and more silvery. JuvenUe 

 specimens, 60 to 70 mm. in standard length, could not be sexed 

 using a binocular microscope, but some had the dorsal, anal, and 

 caudal rays tipped in dusk}^, more so than in the larger, gravid fe- 

 males. These specimens were probably males commencing to develop 

 the definitive adult coloration. 



Geographic distribution: West Indies, Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic ; 

 shelf of United States north to Long Island, N. Y. 



Discussion: Poey's (1860) account of venustus included one of ' 

 the diagnostic characters, a dorsal fin ray count of V,28, but his 

 illustration, plate 14, figm-e 1, is only an undescriptive line drawing. 

 On the basis of his description and one cotype (MCZ 21812, 134 mm. 

 standard length) I place venustus in the synonymy of lowei. The 

 other cotype of venustus (also MCZ 21812) represents nohilis. Data . 

 for the two co types of P. nohilis virginica Nichols and Firth (AMNH 

 13569, 96 and 98 mm. standard length, dorsal fin rays V,28 and V,29; ; 

 anal fin rays IV,15; pectoral rays 15; lateral line pores 34; giU rakers i 

 total 17 and 20) shows no real departure from specimens of lowei [ 

 from other localities and it is, therefore, also placed in the synonymy 

 of lowei. The meristic data of great interest in lowei and nohilis, , 

 since both occur together, is the negative correlation between the ? 

 total number of gill rakers and the number of soft dorsal fin rays. 

 P. lowei with a lower number of dorsal rays has a higher number of 

 gill rakers (tables 1 and 2). 



The frequency distributions of the total number of gill rakers in 

 lowei, segregated by locality, shows the mode of specimens from 

 Cuba to fall on 20 while it is 17 for those from the Gulf of Mexico. 

 A minor population divergence should not be associated with this • 

 difi'erence. It is due to the decrease in the number of gill rakers j 

 with increase in size. This regression is shown in crude form in 



