2390 Bulletin ^7, United States National Museum. 



2739. HTPSOBLEXNIUS HENTZ (Le Suenr). 



Head 3f ; depth 3. D. XII, 15; A. 18; pectoral li in head; ventral If; 

 gill slit 2i; eye 4; maxillary 2. Orbital tentacle very blender, once 

 forked, 3 in head. Body rather deep; head large, obtuse; interorbital 

 space concave, i the diameter of orbit; orbital cirrus as long as dorsal 

 spines, bifid at tip, branched below ; a minute nasal cirrus ; no canines ; 

 gill openings extending to about lower fourth of base of pectoral, thus 

 narrower than in most related species. Dorsal fin high, little notched, 

 the soft part highest, the spines stiff, 2 in head. Tip of each dorsal spine 

 with a filiform, articulated, ray-like appendage. Color in spirits, oliva- 

 ceous, back and sides of head and body everywhere covered with brown 

 spots, very irregular in size and shape ; on posterior part of body the spots 

 are larger, and show a tendency to form vertical bars ; cheeks dark ; lower 

 side of head with traces of 3 cross bars ; spinous dorsal with an elliptical 

 black spot on membrane of first 3 spines ; soft dorsal and caudal obscurely 

 barred ; anal, ventrals, and lower rays of pectorals dusky ; pectorals oliva- 

 ceous, spotted with brown. Coasts of North and South Carolina, south 

 to Indian River, Florida; locally common. (Named for its collector, Dr. 

 Nicholas Marcellus Hentz, "the father of American Araneology.") 

 Blennius punctatus, WOOD, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., IV, 1825, 278, Charleston, South 



Carolina (Coll. Prof. Bache) ; CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., xi, 267, 



1836; GUNTHEB, Cat., ill, 228, 1861; not Blennius punctatus, Fabricius, 1780, which is 



a Stichceus. 

 Blennius hentz* LE SUEUR, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., iv, 1825,363, Charleston, South 



Carolina. (Coll. Dr. Hentz.) 



Hypsoblennius hentzi, GILL, Cat. Fish. East Coast N. A., 1861 (nomen nudum). 

 Hypleurochilus punctatus, GILL, Cat. Fish. East Coast N. A., 20, 1873. 

 Isesthes punctatus, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 758, 1883 ; JORDAN & GILBERT, Proc. TJ. S. 



Nat. Mus. 1883, 616. 

 Isesthes hentzi, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 960, 1883. 



Subgenus BLENNIOLUS, Jordan & Evermann. 

 2740. HYPSOBLENNIUS BREYIPINNIS (Giinther). 



Head 3i; depth 4. D. XII, 12; A. II, 14; pectoral If in head; ventral 

 If; gill slit 21- ; eye 3 in head; snout 2f in bead; maxillary 2|. Orbital 

 tentacle slender, less than eye. Body rather deep, compressed, back not 

 elevated ; anterior profile from first dorsal spine to above eye almost hori- 

 zontal or slightly decurved, from thence to tip of snout abruptly decurved ; 

 head large, its width not quite 2 in its length; interorbital space narrow, 

 grooved, about equaling pupil; eyes large, placed high and close together. 

 Mouth small, low, the maxillary reachTng to pupil ; teeth subequal, pecti- 

 nate; no canines; dorsal fin continuous, deeply emarginate, the spines 

 lower than the soft rays, the longest spine about 2| in head ; caudal free 



* The following is the substance of the account of " Blennius hentz:" Depth 3 (in total). 

 D. XI, 14; A. 16. Body little elongate; snout very short, but not vertically truncate; 

 eyes above angle of mouth, placed high; gill slit extending from level of base of pectoral 

 fiu to height of eye; teeth equal; dorsal slightly depressed in the middle; pectorals 

 large; a short cirrus above each eye and a smaller one over each nostril. Light bluish 

 ash. mixed with rufous, with numerous irregular black and rufous spots; dorsal black, 

 with whltisn spots : soft dorsal with 5 dark oands; ventrals blackish, with pale bands; 

 caudal with 3 or 4 dark bands. Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. (Le Sueur.) 



