824 -Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



1200. SPHYRJENA ENSIS, Jordan & Gilbert. 



(VlCTJDA.) 



Head 4 ; depth 8 or 9 ; eye 6 to 7 in head ; snout 2. D. V-I, 9 ; A. II, 

 8 ; scales 110. Body moderately elongate. Pectoral 2f, reaching about 

 to front of first dorsal. Ventrals inserted before first dorsal. Canine 

 teeth of lower jaw, palatines, and inner row of premaxillary very large, 

 much as in Spliyrcena picuda. Maxillary reaching about to front of 

 dorsal. Silvery, darker above, with traces of numerous vague darker 

 crossbars. Gulf of California to Panama ; rather common ; a food-fish 

 of some importance. Length about 2 feet, (ensis, sword.) 



Sphyrsena ensis, JORDAN & GILBERT, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., n, 1882, 106, Mazatlan ; (Type, 

 No. 28210, Coll. Gilbert); MEEK & NEWLAND, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1884, 70. 



Sphyrsena forsteri, STEINDACHNER, Ichth. Boitrage, vir, 4, 1878; not of CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, 

 which is an East Indian species. 



1201. SPHYRjENA GUACHANCHO, Cuvier & Valenciennes. 



(GUAGUANCHE ; GUAGUANCHE PELON.) 



Head 3J ; depth 2 in head ; eye rather large, 5i in head, a little exceed- 

 ing interorbital area. D. V-I, 9 ; A. 1, 8 ; scales in lateral line 120 to 130. 

 Body rather slender, subterete, covered with moderate-sized scales ; head 

 large; maxillary small, less than i head, scarcely reaching orbit; lower 

 jaw bluntly conical, without fleshy tip. Interorbital area flat ; median 

 groove very shallow, the median longitudinal ridge very small, anterior ; 

 supraocular ridge bony, striate; preocular ridge large. Premaxillary 

 teeth small, 35-40 in number; premaxillary teeth present; anterior pala- 

 tine teeth larger and more compressed than those on premaxillary, widely 

 set, decreasing in length gradually ; teeth in lateral series of lower jaw 

 small and closely set anteriorly, larger and wide-set posteriorly, about 

 10 in number; a large compressed tooth at symphysis. Origin of first 

 dorsal above tip of pectoral, slightly behind the ventrals; distance 

 between dorsals 5i in body ; distance from tip of snout to spinous dorsal 

 2J- in body ; scales moderate, almost uniform in size ; cheeks and opercles 

 scaly ; upper part of head with small embedded scales. Color light olive, 

 yellowish on soft dorsal ; anal and ventral tips of caudal rays black ; top 

 of head dark ; dark punctulations on upper part of body ; spinous dorsal 

 with some dark punctulations. West Indies, north to Pensacola, 

 and occasionally northward in the Gulf Stream as far as Woods Hole. 

 A slender species, rather common in the tropics. Length 2 feet. (Gua- 

 guanche, the common name in Cuba.) 



Sphyrsena guachancho, CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., HI, 342, 1829, (lapsus for 

 guaguanche), Havana; (Coll. Poey); JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 411, 1883. 



Sphyrsena giintheri, HALY, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., xv, 1875, 270, Colon. 



Sphyrsena guaguanche, POEY, Memorias, 11, 166, 1860 ; MEEK & NEWLAND, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. 

 Phila., 1884, 70. 



1202. SPHYRjENA PICUDILLA, Poey. 



(PlCUDILLA. j 



Head 3 ; depth 2 in head ; eye large, about 5 in head, 1 times inter- 

 orbital space. D. V-I, 9; A. I, 9; scales 110. Body rather robust, 



