1312 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



low, and the caudal widely forked. Two species known. (A.vQpor, gore; 

 ovXov, gum.) 



a. Gill rakers about 10 + 22 = 32; body oblong, tbe depth 3 in length. 



FLAVIGUTTATUM, 1678. 



act. Grill rakers 8 + 15=23; body deep, the depth 2| in length. OPALESCENS, 1679. 



1678. LYTHRULON FLAVIGUTTATUM (Gill). 



(PKIXE-FONDA.) 



Head 3; depth 3. D. XII, 15, rarely XIII, 15; A. Ill, 8; snout 4 in 

 head ; maxillary reaching a little past front of pupil, 2| ; orbit 3 ; inter- 

 orbital 4J-; longest dorsal spine 2^; longest dorsal ray 3; second anal 

 spine 3; pectoral 1^; ventral If; scales 6-49-14. Form elongate oval, com- 

 pressed, the curve of ventral and dorsal outlines about equal and uniform. 

 Head small and short, with short pointed snout ; anterior profile very slightly 

 concave before eye, thence slightly convex to dorsal ; mouth small and 

 oblique with the lower jaws projecting ; teeth all small, the outer scarcely 

 .enlarged; preopercle finely and sharply serrate, its posterior edge shal- 

 lowly concave, its angle broadly rounded. Gill rakers slender and numer- 

 ous, the longest nearly equal to the diameter of pupil, about 10 + 22. 

 Scales of moderate size, those above lateral line arranged in very oblique 

 series; tip of snout, chin, and maxillary naked; scales on top of head and 

 cheeks small and crowded; soft fins with scales. Pectoral 1 in head, 

 reaching nearly to vent; ventrals If, reaching halfway to anal rays; sec- 

 ond anal spine a little longer and stronger than third, its tip when 

 depressed not reaching base of last rays ; caudal fin forked, its upper lobe 

 the longer. Frontal foramina 2 short slits close together, just in front 

 of the high supraorbital crest. Color in spirits, dark steel-gray; a small 

 very distinct pale spot on each scale of back and sides, surrounded by 

 darker ; this spot in spirits light yellowish ; in life of a pearly blue ; head 

 plain ; a small dusky blotch under angle of preopercle ; fins plain, bright 

 yellow in life. Young with a large black blotch at base of caudal, as in 

 Hcemulon steindachneri and Orthostcechus maculicauda, and without the 

 dusky horizontal streaks seen in most of the other species. Length 1 foot. 

 Here described from a specimen 9 inches long from Guaymas, Mexico. Pa- 

 cific coast of tropical America, Guaymas to Panama; generally common 

 along the Pacific coast of tropical America, (flavus, yellow; guttatus, 

 spotted. ) 



Hcemulon flaviguttatus, GILL, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1862, 254, Cape San Lucas (Coll. 



Xantus). 



Hcemulon margaritiferum, GUNTHER, Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1864, 147, Panama. 

 Hcemulon flaviguttatum, STEINDACHNER, Ichth. Beit.,m, 14, 1875; JORDAN & SWAIN, I.e., 



314; EVERMANN & JENKINS, PlOC. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1891, 152 ; JORDAN & FfiSLER, L C., 479. 



1679. LYTHRUL01V OPALESCENS, Jordan & Starks. 



Head 3|; depth 2f. D, XII, 16; A. Ill, 9; snout 3f in head; maxillary 

 reaching slightly past front of pupil, 2| in head; orbit 2f ; interorbital 

 3|; longest dorsal spine 2; longest dorsal ray 4; second anal spine 2; 

 pectoral l^; ventrals 1-J-; scales 7-54-13. Body deep, compressed, the 

 back well elevated, the dorsal outline nearly uniformly curved from tip 



