966 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



greater than head ; pectorals much longer than head, reaching halfway 

 to caudal ; caudal lobes equal ; scales thin and deciduous, not very small. 

 Pelvic spine crenulate in young. Greenish above, golden yellow below. 

 Length 6 inches. South Atlantic Coast of United States and West 

 Indies; not rare southward, ranging from Cape Cod to Jamaica, and 

 also to Brazil ; often found swimming beneath the Portuguese man of 

 war with Nomeus gronovii. (Paru, a Brazilian name of a species of 

 Pomacanthus.) 



Paru Brasiliense congener, SLOANE, Jamaica, 285, 1727. 



Slromatens paru, LINNJEUS, Syst. Nat., Ed. x, 1758, 248, Jamaica (based on SLOANE); JORDAN & 



GILBERT, Synopsis, 914, 1883; FORDICE, /. c., 312, 1884. 



Chsetodon alepidotus, LINNJEUS, Syst. Nat., Ed. xn, 460, 1766, Charleston. (Coll. Dr. Garden.) 

 Slernoptyx gardenii, BLOCK & SCHNEIDER, Syst. Ichth.,494, 1801, Carolina; after LINNAEUS. 

 Stromaieus longipinnis, MITCHILL, Trans. Lit. and Philos. Soc. New York, i, 1815, 366, New 



York Bay. 



Rhombus alepidolus, LACEPEDE, Hist. Nat. Poiss., n, 321, 1800. 



Eliombus longipinnis, CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., ix, 401, pi. 274, 1833. 

 Stromatens gardenii, GUNTHER, Cat., n, 399, 1860. 

 Stromaieus alepidotus, LuTKEN, Spolia Atlautica, 521, 1880; JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 451, 



1883. 



1364. RHOMBUS XANTHURUS (Quoy & Gaimard). 



Allied to Rhombus paru, but perhaps distinguished by the shorter dor- 

 sal and anal. D. IV, 40; A, III, 39. East coast of South America, 

 Cayenne to Montevideo ; not seen by us ; perhaps not distinct from 

 Rhombus paru. (favtfdf, yellow; ovpd, tail.) 

 Seserinus xanthurus, QUOY & GAIMARD, Voy. Freyc., Zoo!., 384, 1824, Brazil. 

 Rhombus argenlipinnis, CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., ix, 405, 1833, Montevideo. 

 Rhombm crenulatus, CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, 1. c.. ix, 410, 1833, Cayenne. 

 Rhombus orbiciilaris, GUICHENOT, Mem. Soc. Imp. Sci. Natur. Cherbourg, xn, 245, 1866, Cay- 

 enne. 



Subgenus PALOMETA, Jordan & Evermann. 

 1365. RHOMBUS PALOMETA (Jordan & Bollman). 



Head 2f to 3; depth 2 ; snout shorter than eye, 4^ in head ; eye rather 

 large, 3 to 3 in head (young). D. Ill, 45 to 47; A. Ill, 45. Body ovate, 

 compressed, rather deeper than in R. triacanthus ; ventral outline most 

 arched; profile evenly convex to nostrils, where it abruptly descends, 

 rendering the snout very blunt. Mouth small ; maxillary reaching mid- 

 dle of pupil, 3 in head. Jaws equal. Teeth comparatively long, slender, 

 and close set, especially in the lower jaw, where they form an even cut- 

 ting edge. No teeth evident on vomer or tongue. Gill membranes 

 entirely separate. Gill rakers long and slender, the longest about half 

 eye, about 17 developed below angle. Dorsal and anal spines subequal, 

 the longest not half eye; distance from tip of snout to first soft ray of 

 dorsal less than depth of body by f diameter of eye ; base of anal 

 slightly shorter than base of dorsal (perhaps longer in adult) ; pectorals 

 as long as head ; no trace of ventrals, the pubic bone ending in a sharp 

 spine; the usual antrorse spines before the dorsal. Region above lateral 

 line without evident pores. Cheeks scaly ; opercles naked ; body covered 



