1128 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



ff. Soft dorsal shorter than spinous part; vertebras more than 24 (25 to 36); head 



without rugose dermal ossifications. 

 h. Teeth all villiform, without canines; soft dorsal with 10 to 12 rays. 



i. Head not armed with spinigerous ridges; preopercle moderately ser- 

 rate, sometimes becoming entire with age; dorsal fin deeply 

 notched, the last spines much shorter than the middle ones; 

 scales rugose; soft dorsal scaly; dorsal spines 11; tongue tooth- 

 less; forehead broad, flattish; snout, preorbital, and jaws naked; 

 caudal subtruncate; preopercle finely serrate, becoming entire 

 with age; gill rakers very strong; pyloric coeca few (about 7); 

 pectoral obtusely pointed; ventral inserted a little before axil of 

 pectoral; vertebrae 26. STEREOLEPIS, 495. 



it. Head armed with rough spinigerous crests, there being spinous pro- 

 jections above the eyes and a rough, bony ridge on the opercle, 

 with others on the post-temporal; dorsal fin low, continuous; 



tongue with teeth; dorsal spines 11 or 12; soft dorsal scaly; caudal 

 rounded; ventral not inserted before axil of pectoral; pyloric 

 coeca numerous (about 70) ; vertebrae 27. POLYPRION, 496. 



EPINEPHELIN^;: 



ee. Inner teeth of jaws depressible or hinged; canine teeth more or less distinct, in 

 front of each jaw; scales small, firm, the top of head more or less scaly; 

 lateral line running low (except in Goniopleclrus, etc.) ; supraoccipital crest 

 usually more or less encroaching on the top of the skull, so as to leave no dis- 

 tinct smooth area at the vertex (except in Variola); temporal crests usually 

 distinct; gill rakers various, generally small and short. Dorsal rays VIII to 

 XIV, 12 to 20, the number of spines usually not 10; anal rays III, 7 to III, 12; 

 ventral fins inserted more or less behind axil of pectorals; head unarmed, 

 except for the opercular spines and the serrae on the preopercle; soft dorsal 

 scaly; scales of lateral line usually triangular and cycloid; vertebra; almost 

 always 10 + 14 = 24, rarely 26 or 27. Chiefly shore fishes, often of large size; 

 all of them, so far as known, bisexual. 



j. Pectoral unsymmetrical, its upper rays longest; dorsal spines 8; plectroid spine 

 on preopercle single, very strong; a strong canine on middle of side of 

 lower jaw; opercle with a long, knife-shaped spine; body rather deep; 

 lateral line running high; jaws naked; scales small, firm, and rough; cau- 

 dal rounded; soft dorsal rather short, of 12 or 13 rays. 



GONIOPLECTRUS, 497. 



jj. Pectoral rounded, symmetrical, its middle rays longest; canines usually dis- 

 tinct, in front of 1 or both jaws. 



Jc. Frontals* with a transverse ridge on posterior part in front of the supra- 

 occipital connecting the parietal crests; frontal bones without processes 

 or longitudinal ridges on the upper surface; dorsal spines always 9. 

 I. Posterior process of premaxillary extending to between frontals; man- 

 dible without curved canines on its sides; caudal not forked; 

 scales ctenoid. PETROMETOPON, 498. 



H-. Frontals without transverse ridge. 



m. Dorsal spines 9; soft dorsal of moderate length and height, its rays 

 13 to 15; anal rays III, 7 or 8; skull and head essentially as in 

 Ephinephelus, the snout not very short, the frontal region flat or 

 convex, the supraoccipital crest continued forward over it, the 

 lateral crest short, low, and diverging; mouth and teeth as in 

 Ephinephelw. BODIANUS, 499. 



* These characters, with other osteological characters used in this analysis, are taken from 

 Boulenger's Catalogue, p. 165 et eeq. 



