892 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



1280. TETRAPTURUS* IMPERATOR (Bloch & Schneider). 



Tetrapturus indicus, CUVIEK & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., vnr, 286, 1831, Sumatra; on a 



figure by Banks. 



Tetrapturus herschelii, GRAY, Ann. Nat. Hist., i, 313, 1838, Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope. 

 Histiophorus herschelii, GUNTHER, Cat., 11, 513, 1860. 



Histiophorus breviroslris, GUNTHER & PLAYFAIR, Fish. Zanzibar, 53, 1866, Zanzibar. 

 Tetrapturus herschelii, LUTKEN, Spolia Atlantica, 441, 1890. 



(BILLFISH ; SPEARFISH ; AQUJA BLANCA ; AGUJA DE PALADAR.) 



Head (to end of upper jaw) 2| ; depth 7 to 8. Length of caudal lobes 

 4. D. Ill, 39-6 ; A. II, 13-6. Nape elevated, the greatest depth of body 

 opposite the opercle. Eye midway between opercle and tip of lower jaw. 

 Dorsal inserted in front of base of pectorals, its height f to g in depth of 

 body ; caudal forked at an angle of 70 to 80 degrees. Dark blue above ; 

 whitish beneath; tins dark blue. Length 7 feet. Weight 40 to 100 

 pounds. West Indies ; not rare on our coast, ranging occasionally north- 

 ward to Cape Cod. Our species is here considered to be identical with 

 the form found in southern Europe ; but no direct comparison has yet 

 been made, (imperator, emperor). (Eu.) 

 Xiphias imperator, BLOCK & SCHNEIDER, Syst. Ichth., 93, pi. xxi, 1801, Mediterranean; after 



DUHAMEL. 



Tetraplnrus belone, RAFINESQUE, Caratteri, 54, pi. 1, fig. 1, 1810, Sicily; CUVIER & VALEN- 

 CIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., vin, 280, 1831. 



Skeponopodus typus, NARDO, Isis., xxvi, Col. 417, 1833, Adriatic. 



Tetrapturus georgii, LOWE, Proc. Zo'6\., Soc. Lond., vin, 1840, 36, Madeira. 



Tetrapturus albidus, POEY, Memorias, n, 237, 1861, Havana; JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 420, 

 1883. v 



Tetrapturus lessoni, CANESTRINI, Arch. Zob'l., 259, pi. vn, 1861, Mediterranean. 



Histiophorus belone, GUNTHER, Cat., n, 513, 1860. 



Tetraptunis imperator, GOODE, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1881, 417. 



1281. TETRAPTURUS AMPLUS, Poey. 

 (AGUJA DE CASTA.) 



Head 2| ; depth 5 ; length of caudal lobes 3. D. Ill, 38-7 ; A, II, 13-7. 

 Body stouter than in Tetrapturus imperator, more convex at nape, the 

 greatest depth behind opercle. Caudal forked at an angle of 90 to 100 

 degrees. Dorsal inserted rather behind base of pectorals, its height f 

 depth of body. Length 10 feet or more ; reaches a weight of 400 to 800 



* If, as Dr. Goode suggests, the species called imperator is confined to the Mediterranean, the 

 American species may stand as Tetrapturus albidus, r possibly as T. georgii. According to 

 Liitken there arc but four recognizable species of Istiaphoridee (Histiophorus gladius and graciliros- 

 tris; Tetrapturus belone and herscheli). He identifies both of the American species of Tetraptunis 

 with Tetrapturus indicus, Cuvier & Valenciennes. This view is perhaps correct, but, as has been 

 pertinently observed by Dr. Goode, the identity of the American species called Tetrapturus albidus 

 and Histiophorus americanus, with their Old- World representatives, is yet unproved, and in many 

 respects it is desirable to retain the American names until this identity is shown. "To unite 

 species from widely distant localities, without ever having seen them, is very disastrous to a 

 proper understanding of the problems of geographical distribution." (Goode, Proc. U. S. Nat. 

 Mus., 1881, 427.) 



Should Liitken's view prove correct, the following synonyms should be added to Tetrapturus 

 imperator or albidus. We do not see any notable difference between the Amercan form, called 

 albidus, and the European imperator, and so adopt the latter name for both. We have no 

 of comparing either with indicus or herscheli. 



