Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 1437 



space not broader than eye; anal spine very long and strong, If in head ; 

 pectoral fin short, \\ in head; form of body irregularly rhomboidal, the 

 base of the anal fin being oblique; profile almost straight anteriorly; eye 

 moderate, slightly shorter than snout ; mouth large, inferior, almost hori- 

 zontal, maxillary reaching beyond pupil, 2| in head. Mouth inferior or 

 subinferior, little oblique; preorbital broader, gill rakers shorter, and 

 pores and slits on snout more conspicuous than in other species. Upper 

 jaw with a band of villiform teeth and an outer series of enlarged teeth ; 

 lower teeth in a moderate band, the inner series slightly enlarged, espe- 

 cially in young examples; gill rakers comparatively short, 8 + 15; dorsal 

 spines short and stout, slightly more than 2 in head; caudal rounded; anal 

 spine If in head ; basal half of the soft dorsal and anal covered with scales. 

 Color, bluish above, silvery below, a rather broad area from snout to caudal 

 covered with brownish dots; upper fins and anterior half of anal with 

 many dots. * Both coasts of tropical America ; not uncommon on the Pacific 

 coast about Panama, and equally abundant on the Atlantic coast, where 

 it seems to ascend the rivers, (armatus, armed.) 



Bairdiella armata, GlLL, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1863, 164, west coast Central America; 



JORDAN &. EIGKNMANN, I. c., 388, 1889. 



Corvina acutirostris, STEINDAC-HNER, Ichth. Beitr., in, 28, pi. 4, 1875, Panama. 

 Comma armata, GUNTHER, Fishes Central America, 387 and 428, 1869. 

 Corvina (Jfomoprion) acutirottris, STEINDACHNER, Zur Fisch-Fauna des Magdalenen- 



Stroines, 9, 1878. 



1810. KAIltDIKLLA ALUTA, Jordan & Gilbert. 



Head 3*; depth 3; D. X-I, 18; A. II, 8; scales 44, 5 in a vertical series 

 from front of dorsal to lateral line. Form rather elongate, the back 

 a little elevated and compressed; caudal peduncle especially long and 

 slender; head rather broad above the eyes, somewhat depressed, so that 

 the anterior profile is a little concave, in front of which the snout is rather 

 abruptly truncate; interorbital space a little broader than the large eye, 

 the diameter of which is about equal to the length of the snout, and con- 

 tained about 4 times in the length of the head. Width of preorbital 

 | diameter of eye. Preoperclo strongly serrated, the 3 lowest serrae 

 radiating, the lowest and largest one turned downward and forward; 

 lower jaw included, considerably shorter than upper; snout scarcely pro- 

 jecting beyond premaxillaries; mouth nearly horizontal; premaxillaries 

 much below the level of the eye; maxillary extending to just beyond 

 middle of eye. Teeth in both jaws in narrow villiform bands, the outer 

 teeth in the upper jaw somewhat enlarged, those in the lower jaw all 

 small. Sides and top of head somewhat cavernous, the surface yielding 

 to the touch. Gill rakers shortish, rather slender, about as long as pupil; 

 pseudobranchiae large. Dorsal fin divided nearly to base, the spines 

 not very high, rather flexible, the longest little more than i length of 



* Bairdiella armata is close to Bairdiella ronchus, and the character of the dentition of 

 the lower jaw, which we have used to divide Bairdiella into minor groups, becomes here of 

 slight importance. We have examined specimens of this species from Panama, Rio Magda- 

 lena, San Matheo, Camaru, Cannarivieras, Curuca, Bahia, Pernambuco, Maranhao, and 

 Itabapuana. The specimen from the latter locality (10837, M. C. Z.) is nearly a foot long, 

 and has the spines a little shorter and stouter than in Panama examples. 



