1214 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



than any on the body, in 5 vertical series; preoperculum finely serrated, 

 the sense coarser at the angle, obsolete on the lower border ; middle oper- 

 cular spine strong, nearer lower than upper. Gill rakers moderate, 12 on 

 lower part of the anterior arch. Dorsal originating above base of pec- 

 toral, the spines increasing in size to the fourth, which equals f length 

 of head and is a little shorter than the longest soft rays ; no notch 

 between the spinous and soft portions ; pectoral obtusely pointed, 

 slightly longer than ventrals, f length of head; second and third anal 

 spines equal, stouter and slightly shorter than longest dorsal ; caudal 

 slightly emarginate. Brown, with ill-defined darker vertical bars; soft 

 dorsal, anal, and caudal with small dark and light spots; pectorals and 

 ventrals yellowish. Length 6 inches. Coast of Jalisco, western Mexico. 



Serranus bulleri, BOULENGER, Cat., r, 288, 1895, Las Peftas, Jalisco. (Coll. A. C. Buller.) 



Subgenus MENTIPERCA, Gill. 

 1600. PRIONODES TIGRINUS (Bloch). 



Head 2f ; depth 3 ; eye 4 in head. D. X, 11 ; A. Ill, 7 ; scales 8-68-24, 

 60 pores. Body long and low, the head low and sharp, the lower jaw 

 projecting; scales small; top of head naked, the smooth area on frontal 

 region large ; scales on cheek small, in 10 or 12 rows ; preopercle rounded, 

 with regular serrse ; teeth small ; gill rakers very short, x -j- 6 to 8 ; rnax- 

 illary 2i, reaching to center of eye ; soft dorsal and anal naked ; dorsal 

 low, not notched ; caudal forked ; second and third anal spines equal, 

 the second the strongest, 2 in head ; pectoral li in head. Color brown- 

 ish above, the sides yellowish, everywhere, above, below, and on fins 

 covered with irregular, inky-black spots, blotches, and bands, the latter 

 meeting around the belly ; pectorals and anal plain ; a broad ring around 

 base of caudal, and many irregular spots around bases of ventrals and 

 pectorals; numerous black spots on dorsals and caudal, one of those on 

 front of spinous dorsal very conspicuous. West Indies; scarce; an 

 exceedingly handsome little fish, here described from the original type of 

 Serranus prcestigiator, sent by Poey to the Museum of Comparative Zool- 

 ogy- (tigrinus, spotted like a tiger.) 



Holocentrus tigrinus, BLOCH, pi. 237, 1790, afterSEBA, Thesaurus, m, pi. xxvn, fig. 5, East Indies. 

 Serranus prsestigiator, POEY, Memorias, i, 58, pi. 2, fig. 2, 1851, Havana. (Coll. Poey. Type 



in M. C. Z.) 

 ? Cenlropristes annularis, GUNTHER, Shore Fishes, Challenger, 6, pi. 1, fig. B, 1880, Pernambuco 



young specimen 2 inches long. 

 Centropristis prsestigiator, GUNTHER, Cat., i, 85, 1859. 

 Haliperca prsestigiator, POEY, Synopsis, 282, 1868. 

 Serranus tigrinus, JORDAN, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1886, 579; JORDAN & EIGENMANN, I. c., 408, 



1890; BOULENGER, Cat., i, 293. 

 ? Serranus annularis, JORDAN & EIGENMANN, I. c., 406. 



*The earliest specific name of this species, fasciatus, can not be used if the species be referred 

 to Serranus, as already more than one Serranus has been called fascialus. The name is, however, 

 not preoccupied in Prionodes. The genus Prionodes was supposed by Jenyns to differ from Serranus 

 by the absence of vomerine and palatine teeth. These teeth are, as a matter of fact, well devel- 

 oped in the young, but in some old specimens they are small, partly covered by the skin, and 

 possibly even deciduous. Renewed comparison shows that 1598a, Prionodes bulleri (Boulenger), is 

 a distinct species, though close to P. fasciatus; the jaws shorter, the color dull. 



