1180 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



1569. MYCTEROPERCA XENARCHA, Jordan. 



Head 2f ; depth 3 ; eye small, 7 in head. D. XI, 16 ; A. Ill, 11 ; scales 

 25-110 to 115-50. Body rather deep and compressed ; head compressed, 

 with rather short, sharp snout, which is 4 in head; profile steep and 

 nearly straight; mouth large, the maxillary reaching scarcely beyond 

 eye, 2 in head ; lower canines small ; upper canines .(2 in number) strong, 

 scarcely directed forward; preorbital narrow, width of eye ; interor- 

 bital area convex, its width 4 in head; nostrils small, the posterior 

 scarcely the larger, separated from the anterior by one diameter ; angle 

 of preopercle scarcely salient, but provided with coarser teeth ; a rather 

 sharp notch above it ; opercular spine flat and divided into about 6 teeth 

 at the end; gill rakers moderate, 9 + 18 ; scales moderate, scarcely ctenoid ; 

 dorsal spines low, the outline of the spinous dorsal gently convex, the 

 fourth spine longest, 3 in head; soft dorsal high, its outline angular, the 

 tenth ray produced, \\ in head ; anal fin formed as in Mycteroperca falcata, 

 its seventh ray produced and falcate, 1* in head, its posterior outline 

 concave ; caudal subtruncate, the outer slightly produced ; pectoral If in 

 head. Color in spirits plain dark olivaceous, the edges of the fins scarcely 

 darker. Rocky Islands of the eastern Pacific from Mazatlan to the coast 

 of Peru; known from numerous specimens in the Museum of Compara- 

 tive Zoology at Cambridge, from the Galapagos Islands, and from Payta, 

 Peru. The above description is from a specimen 22 inches long, taken by 

 us at the Venados Islands, near Mazatlan. This is larger than the original 

 types of the species. (?evbf, strange; ap^df, anus.) 



Mycteroperca xenarcha, JORDAN, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1887,387, James Island, Galapagos 



(Type, No. 24198, Mus. Comp. Zool.); JORDAN & EIGENMANN, I. c., 372, 1890. 

 Epinephelus xenarchus, BOULENGEK, Cat., i, 266. 



Subgenus PAREPINEPHELUS, Bleeker. 

 1570. MYCTEROPERCA RUBER (Bloch). 



(SCIRENGA.) 



Head 2J in length ; depth 2f . D. XI, 16 ; A. Ill, 11 or 12 ; scales 15-95 to 

 115-40 to 46, pores 75 to 85. Body rather deep, compressed, the snout 

 sharp, the anterior profile straight ; interorbital space flat or convex, 4 to 

 51 in head; mouth moderate, the maxillary extending just beyond eye, 

 2 in head ; eye 4i to 7 in head ; canine teeth small ; preopercle with a 

 salient angle ; gill rakers very long and slender, x -f- 31 (22 to 35 accord- 

 ing to Boulenger), the longest f diameter of eye and 7 in head; dorsal 

 spines small ; soft dorsal slightly angulated, the longest ray 2f- in head ; 

 anal fin (in most specimens, especially in adults) sharply angulated as in 

 M. falcata, the longest ray 1$ in head, in young specimens rounded ; 

 caudal lunate, the angles well produced in the adult, the fin subtruncate 

 in young ; pectoral l in head ; ventrals short, not reaching vent, (2f to 

 3i, Boulenger). Coloration grayish olive, with reticulations of dark 

 around irregular roundish pale spots ; a black mustache along edge of 

 maxillary ; fins not much darker than body, usually dusky at tip ; young 



