PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



iasued 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 

 Vol. 87 W..hington : 1939 No. 3074 



A REVISION OF THE SOAPFISHES OF THE GENUS 



RYPTICUS 



By Leonard P. Schultz and Earl D. Reid 



For many years an attempt has been made to distinguish the 

 species of soapfishes by such characters as number of spines on pre- 

 operculum, on operculum, and in the dorsal fin and the amount of 

 separation of spmous and soft dorsal fins. Doubtless these characters 

 were considered sufficient, because only a few specimens were avail- 

 able to previous authors. With larger series at hand, however, we 

 find that none of these characters is of much value in the separation 

 of the species. 



Perhaps some of the misconceptions prevalent in regard to the soap- 

 fishes are caused by the fleshiness of the fins. This makes it impossible 

 to count the fin rays accurately without careful dissections and has 

 led several authors to state that the spinous and soft dorsals are 

 separated. Dissection of the dorsal fin in our specimens shows 

 definitely that the fin supports are of about equal spacing from first 

 dorsal spine to the first few soft rays, after which the rays are closer 

 together posteriorly. 



The state of preservation of the fleshy nature of the vertical fins, 

 no doubt, causes the dorsal spines, in some specimens, to appear more 

 or less separated from the soft rays. The scales, too, are difficult to 

 count because they are embedded and covered with mucus. Measure- 

 ments were made on the various organs of the body, but none of these 

 was found to be significant. The general body form appears to be 

 very similar for all the species. 



We wish to thank the following men and institutions for the privilege 

 of examining specimens: Dr. S. F. Hildebrand and Isaac Ginsburg, 



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