1164 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



Perca gntttafa, LINN.EUS, Syst. Nat., Ed. x, 1758, 292, Brazil; after MARCGBAVE, WILLUGHBY, 

 SLOANE, CATESBY, etc. ; the account of color taken from Catesby's figure of the Red Hind 

 (Epinephelus catus); the various authors quoted each supposing his specimens to be identical 

 with that of Marcgrave. 



Serranus itaiara, LICHTENSTEIN,* Acta Berolinens. for 1821, 378, 1822, Brazil; CUVIER & VALEN- 

 CIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., n, 376, 1828; not Itaiara, MARCGRAVE. 



Serranus galeus, MULLER and TROSCHEL, in Schomburgk's Reise in Brit. Guiana, 621, 1842, 

 Guiana; GUNTHER, Cat., i, 130, 1859. 



Serranus guasa, POEY, Memorias Cuba, n, 141, 354, tab. 13, fig. 8, I860, Cuba. 



Serranus quinquefascialus, BOCOURT, Ann. Sci. Nat., 1868, 223, Nagualate, Pacific Coast of 

 Guatemala. 



Epinephelus fjuinquefasciatus, JORDAN & GILBERT, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 1882, 106, 110, 112. 



Promicrops guasa, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 542, 1883. 



Epinephelus galeus, JORDAN, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1883, 285. 



Epinephelus itaiara, JORDAN, Proc. TJ. S. Nat. Mus., 1884, 124; BOULENGER, Cat., i, 252. 



Promio-ops itaiara, JORDAN & SWAIN, I. c., 1884, 877. 



Promicrops guUatus, JORDAN & EIGENMANN, I. c., 363, 1890. 



503. ALPHESTES, Bloch & Schneider. 



Alphestes, BLOCK & SCHNEIDER, Syst. Ichthyol., 236, 1801, (afer). 



Prospinus, (PoEY MS.) GILL, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1862, 237, (chloropterus = afer). 



The genus Alphestes contains two species of small fishes which differ from 

 Epinephelus proper in the presence of a strong antrorse spine on the lower 

 limb of the preopercle. Frontal bones with an anterior excavation for 

 the reception of the posterior processes of the premaxillaries, a process or 

 knob on each side of skull behind the interorbital area ; supraoccipital 

 and parietal crests produced on frontals, but not extending to between 

 orbits. Dorsal rays XI, 17 to 20 ; anal III, 9. (atyrjaTfa, greedy or ifacon- 

 tinent, a name applied to a kind of fish that swims in pairs, one behind 

 the other, possibly Symphodus tinea.) 



a. Second anal spine as long as third; gill rakers short. Color olive, clouded with dusky, the 

 body with rather few dark-orange spots; breast with pearly spots; a dark mustache 

 above the maxillary; lower jaw little projecting; preorbital very narrow. AFER, 1558. 



aa. Second anal spine longer than third; gill rakers long, longer than gill fringes. Color 

 olivaceous, the ground color nearly uniform, the body and fins closely covered with 

 small dark-brown spots; breast plain; snout slender, pointed; lower jaw rather strongly 

 projecting. MULTIGUTTATUS, 1559. 



1558. ALPHESTES AFER (Bloch). 



(GUASETA.) 



Head 2; depth 2; eye large, 4| in head. D. XI, 17 to 19; A. Ill, 9; 

 scales 10-75 to 80-35, pores 50 to 60. Body oblong, ovate, rather com- 

 pressed, the greatest width 2i times in depth ; head small, rather pointed, 

 the profile nearly straight from the tip of the snout to the nape, there 

 forming a considerable angle, being steeper and more gibbous to the 

 front of the dorsal fin; snout short, shorter than eye; mouth small, the 

 maxillary extending a little beyond the eye, its length 2| in head ; max- 

 illary naked ; teeth comparatively small, in broad bands, the upper jaw 



*According to Professor Peters, the type of Serranus itaiara is a very young fish, with the eye 

 as wide as the interorbital space, but in other respects identical with the type of Serranus galeus. 



