Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 1229 



in having the ventral rays I, 5 instead of I, 4. Dr. Gill has referred 

 Gi'amma to Bleeker's family of Pseudochromidida, with which it agrees 

 in the form of the lateral line. The Pseudochromididm seem to be, how- 

 ever, an unnatural assemblage, and Dr. Boulenger has separated the 

 percoid elements of this group, referring them to the Serranidcc. Gramma 

 loreto seems not far removed from Antkias, though Poey places it among 

 the Lutianince. (ypow4, a line, from the peculiarities of the lateral line.) 



1616. GRAMMA LORETO, Poey. 



D. XII, 9; A. Ill, 9; P. 11; V.I, 5 j C. 17; scales 31 + 11 = 42. The fol- 

 lowing is a translation of Poey's description : Length 50 millimeters. 

 Body oblong, as in Mesoprion (Lutjanus), the depth equal to length of 

 head, 4 in total; eye large, 3 in head, situated half its diameter from 

 tip of snout ; jaws equal ; interorbital width | eye. Mouth large, the 

 maxillaries reaching posterior border of eye. Upper teeth very fine ; 

 lower larger, acute, curved ; teeth on the palatine arch. Preopercle den- 

 ticulate ; opercle entire. Nostrils near together, near upper anterior bor- 

 der of eye. Pores below eye and along lower jaw. Fins scaleless; soft 

 part of dorsal not i length of spinous part. Anal spines weak ; ventrals 

 subthoracic; first soft rays reaching beyond anal spines; caudal acute. 

 Lateral line almost touching outline of back, falling interrupted below 

 last dorsal spine, the posterior part ending at middle of caudal. 

 Scales moderate, ctenoid, 45 on a horizontal line ; scales on opercles and 

 cheeks ; above the head they cease at the nape. Color of body, bluish 

 anteriorly, paler on the sides, passing insensibly into red posteriorly ; 

 fins yellowish, the ventral blue anteriorly ; membrane of first 4 dorsal 

 spines with a spot of intense blue; 2 short black lines mark region 

 behind eyes, turned obliquely upward, the upper broader. (Poey.) 

 This species is known from a single specimen 2 inches long, sent by Poey 

 to the Museum of Comparative Zoology, where it was examined by us. 

 It is in bad condition, the gills being destroyed. (Named for its col- 

 lector, la Senora Da. Loreto Martinez, " que la pesco en la bahia de 

 Matanzas, y que aprovecha la localidad que habita, playa de Judios, para 

 enriquecer los museos de sus amigos aficionados a la historia natural." 

 Poey.) 



Gramma loreto, POEY, Synopsis, 296, 1868, Matanzas, Cuba; GILL, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 

 1887, 615. 



519. RYPTICUS, Cuvier. 



(SOAPFISHES.) 



Rypticus, CTTVIER, Regne Animal, Ed. n, Vol. n, 144, 1829, (taponaceus). 

 Smecticus, VALENCIENNES, Voyage de la Venus, 305, 1855, (bicolor). 

 Rhypticus, GUNTHER, Cat., i, 171, 1859, (corrected orthography). 

 Pramicropierus, GILL, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1861, 53, (maculatus). 

 Eleiitheractis, COPE, Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc., 1870, 467, (coriacem). 



Body oblong, compressed, covered with very small, smooth, embedded 

 scales. Lateral line normal ; head scaly. Mouth rather large, oblique, 

 the lower jaw the longer ; maxillary with a supplemental bone, as in 



