Sphyrcena barracuda; its Morphology, Habits, and History. 57 



which in turn sent white bars up into the green, the two forming an 

 interlocking or dove-taihng, as shown in the diagrammatic figure 

 (text-figure 3 A). Unfortunately, the number of these bars was not 

 counted. Specimen No. 10 (3 feet 10 inches long), shortly after being 

 killed, was dorsally black with an iridescent metallic blue in some fights; 

 it had some blue on the sides, lower down was silvery, and the ventral 

 parts were a chalky-white. 



Evermann and Marsh (1900) speak of ''dark longitudinal streaks 

 along rows of scales above lateral fine." This was confirmed on one 

 fish only. Of No. 1, my notes say, "faint dark longitudinal stripes or 

 streaks above lateral line." This was my smallest specimen, 2 feet 1.5 

 inches in extreme length. The largest Porto Rican specimen was 

 16 inches long. It seems probable that this is a juvenile marking which 

 disappears with age.^ 



Reference has already been made to the bars found just above the 

 lateral line on each side of fish No. 11. On fish No. 1, lying wholly 



IlRiRiI 



Text-figure 3. 



A. — Dove-tailing of the upper green and the lower silvery colors on the side of barracuda No. 11. 



(Semi-diagrammatic) . 

 B. — Longitudinal stripes and vertical bars on right side of barracuda No. 1. 



above the lateral line and crossing the horizontal streaks at a large 

 acute angle forward, were 18 or 20 dark bars as shown in text-figure 3 B. 

 No. 5 had 18 bars, as noted for No. 1, but no longitudinal streaks were 

 visible. No. 7 had about 18 similar bars, as did No. 8. No. 9 had 

 about 20. No. 10 had 17 on the right side and 18 on the left. No. 11 

 has already been referred to, and the last and longest specimen either 

 had no such bars or I failed to note them. In the case of No. 6 these 

 notes explicitly state that the bars were lacking. In addition to these 

 bars or oblong more or less rectangular blotches found on the body 

 forward of the dorsal-anal fin region, there were generally present on 

 the lateral hinder parts certain interesting spots to which attention 

 will now be called. 



No. 4 had on the hinder half of the right side of the body 15 large 

 black spots, some faint, and some apparently of two run together; 

 but on the left 9 spots only. No. 9, in addition to the 20 black bars 

 above the lateral fine on each side, had below the lateral line 23 black 

 spots, some faint and some apparently double. On the left side there 

 were 18. All were mainly behind the anterior margin of the second 



'Some months after wTiting the above, Professor W. H. Longley informed me that on July 

 14, 1916, there was taken out in open water at Tortugas, a little barracuda "about an inch long 

 which was marked with a distinct lateral band of brown pigment running the length of the body 

 through the eye." 



