[97] 



REVIEW OF THE SCI^ENID^E. 439 



illary reaching past middle of orbit ; teeth of upper jaw slightly en- 

 larged; gill-rakers short, rather slender, 6 + 9 ; caudal peduncle and fin 

 less deep than in Eques punctatus ; second anal spine slightly shorter than 

 soft rays, 2£ in head; soft dorsal scaly; scales large, the series below 

 lateral line slightly oblique ; longitudinal streaks on body not following 



the rows of scales Acuminatus, 109. 



x. Color nearly black, with longitudinal whitish stripes on the body, not on 

 the fins ; one stripe from upper edge of eye straight to upper edge of caudal 

 peduncle, one just above this to last rays of soft dorsal, two confluent 

 behind from nape to middle of soft dorsal, two below the first from pec- 

 toral to base of caudal, the lowest to edge of caudal peduncle ; fins dusky. 

 Head 3 ; depth 2-J. D. X-I, 38 to 40 ; A. II, 7 ; scales 50 ; eye 4 in head ; 

 snout 3f; maxillary 3 ; second anal spine 2£; longest dorsal spine If; 



pectoral 1}. (West Indian specimens.) Var. acuminatus, 109 (a). 



xx. Coloration dark smutty brown, with traces only of seven paler streaks ; 

 region at base of soft dorsal darker; spinous dorsal, tips of ventrals, and 

 inside of gill cavity black; fins otherwise smutty. Head 3£ in length; 

 depth 2f. D. X-I, 40; A. II, 7; scales 6-51-10 ; secoud aual spine 2£; 

 eye 4; snout 4 ; maxillary 2£. (Specimens from Charleston.) 



Var. umbrosus, 109 (b). 

 cc. Dorsal spines elongate, the longest 2| in length of body ; soft parts of vertical 

 fins with white spots ; body robust, the back much compressed, the gen- 

 eral form much as in Eques acuminatus, but the caudal pedun.de deeper 

 and more compressed ; profile rather steep, depressed over the eye ; snout 

 slightly longer than eye, 3£ in head; eye as wide as interorbital region; 

 preorbital broad, as wide as eye ; mouth small, sub-inferior ; maxillary 

 almost entirely concealed below the preorbital, 2i in head, reaching to 

 below middle of eye ; teeth in both jaws in broad bands, the outer series of 

 the upper jaw enlarged; preopercle entire, the membrane with slight 

 cilia; gill-rakers small, slender, 6 -4- 11; lower pharyngeals small; the 

 teeth all conical, those of the posterior angle and inner series somewhat 

 enlarged ; anterior dorsal spines as high as body ; membranes of the soft 

 portions of the vertical fins closely scaled to the tip ; caudal broadly 

 rounded ; anal short and high ; second spine about f of longest ray, 3 in head ; 

 anal spine placed midway between base of pectoral and base of caudal ; 

 pectorals and ventrals short and equal, If in head. Color, dark brown, a 

 light bar in front of eye extending around the chin, a second pale bar 

 extending around the head immediately behind the eyes, a third extend- 

 ing from in front of dorsal over base of pectorals ; a light bar along base 

 of soft dorsal; a light bar extending from behind the elevated portion 

 of the spinous dorsal downwards, dividing into two, the branches running 

 straight back, the upper branch to beginning of last fourth of soft dor- 

 sal, the lower branch to baseof caudal; 2or31ight, undulating longitudinal 

 bars below these ; fins all dark brown, the soft portions of the vertical 

 fins with many whitish stellate spots. Head 3| in length ; depth 3. D. XI 

 or XII-I, 46; A. 11,6 or 7 ; scales 8-55 to 59-11 or 12. ..Punctatus, 110. 

 66. [Profile very steep, "steeper than in Eques lanceolatus." Body deepest below 

 first dorsal spine, theuce rapidly tapering to the narrow caudal pedun- 

 cle; eye 3 in head; snout 1£ in eye; mouth subinferior, the thick convex 

 snout projecting beyond it; first ventral ray filiform, 3£ in body; longest 

 dorsal spines If to 2f in length of body, their height nearly twice that of 

 the body below them; color olivaceous, three dark-brown longitudinal 

 bands along the sides, the middle one from eye backwards reaching tips 

 of the middle caudal rays ; the upper from occiput backward to end of 

 soft dorscl s the lower from lower corner of eye to behind anal ; two very 



