Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 2275 



MALACANTHIISLE : 



a. Vertebrae 24 ; preopercle entire. 



b. Soft dorsal and anal extremely long, each with more than 40 rays; preopercle entire; 

 form slender; scales v%ry small. HALACANTHUS, 838. 



aa. Vertebrie more than 24 ; preopercle more or less serrate. 

 CAULOLATILINJE : 



c. Soft dorsal and anal moderate, each with 22 to 27 soft rays; preopercle serrate; 



scales rather small ; form robust. 

 d. Upper jaw with posterior canines; dorsal spines graduated. 



CAULOLATILUS, 839. 

 LATILIN^E : 

 cc. Soft dorsal and anal short, each of 13 to 15 soft rays ; preopercle denticulate ; scales 



small ; form robust. 



e. Nape with a large adipose appendage ; a fleshy prolongation on each side of the 

 labial fold, extending forward behind angle of mouth. 



LOPHOLATILUS, 840. 



838. MALACANTHUS, Cuvier, 

 (MATAJUELO BLANCO.) 



Malacanthus, CUVIEK, Regne Animal, Ed. 2, vol. IT, 205, 1829 (plumieri) . 



Body elongate, slightly compressed; cleft of mouth horizontal, with 

 the jaws equal; eyes lateral; scales very small, minutely ciliated; one 

 continuous dorsal, with the first 4 to 6 rays not articulated; dorsal and 

 anal very long; pectoral rays all branched; jaws with villiform teeth; an 

 outer series of stronger teeth, some of them canine-like, and with a canine 

 at the posterior extremity of the intermaxillary; no teeth on the palate; 

 preopercle entire ; opercle with a spine ; gill rakers little developed ; ver- 

 tebra) in small number, 10 -f- 14=24. One species, a shore fish of tropical 

 America. (fj-aXanos, soft; axarBa, spine.) 



2610. MALACANTHCS PLUMIERI (Bloch). 

 (MATAJUELO BLANCO.) 



Head 3f ; depth 6|. D. VI, 49 ; A. 48 ; scales 14-130-30 ; eye 5 in head ; max- 

 illary 2 ; snout 2| ; P. 2 ; longest dorsal rays 3, equal to anal ray ; upper 

 caudal lobe If. Body elongate, little compressed. Head moderately 

 long and pointed; eye placed high; interorbital flat, as wide as eye; pro- 

 file of head obliquely straight from, tip of snout to above nostril, where 

 there is a slight angle formed, thence nearly horizontally straight to 

 dorsal. Mouth large, maxillary reaching slightly past the vertical from 

 posterior nostril; jaws equal; a band of villiform teeth in upper jaw 

 growing broader anteriorly, and another row of small, even, conical teeth 

 at the sides, and 6 well-developed canines in front, the 2 outer ones the 

 largest; a canine on premaxillary at angle of mouth; villiform teeth in 

 lower jaw not extending very far back; large recurved canines on side of 

 jaw anteriorly, small conical teeth in front and on sides posteriorly, with 

 a single large canine at angle of mouth ; gill rakers rudimentary, about 

 5 -f- 7. Top of head forward from above middle of eye, preorbital, and 

 lower jaw, naked; fins withou scales. Dorsal and anal similar, long 

 and low, continuous ; pectoral reaching past tips of ventrals to front of 



