Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 1489 



Serrano, hispanis, PABRA, Piezas Hist. Nat. Cuba, 2, pi. 2, lower figure, 1787, Cuba. 



Eques punctalus, BLOCK & SCHNEIDER, Syst. Ichth., 106, 1801, Cuba (based on PARRA, 2, 

 pi. 2, fig. 2); CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., v, pi. 167, 116. 1830; GiiN- 

 THER, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., u, 281, I860; POEY, Synopsis, 325, 1868; POEY, Ezmme- 

 ratio, 49, 1875 ; JORDAN & EIGENMANN, I. c., 441, 1889. 



1875. EQUES PULCHER, Steindachner. 



Head 3| to 3 in total length; depth the same. D. X-I, 37 or 38; A. 

 II, 7; scales 50. Profile very steep, " steeper than in Eques lanceolatus." 

 Body deepest below first dorsal spine, thence rapidly tapering to the nar- 

 row caudal peduncle ; eye 3 in head ; snout !- in eye ; mouth subinferior, 

 the thick convex snout projecting beyond it; first ventral ray filiform, 3 

 in body; longest dorsal spines If to 2f in length of body, their height 

 nearly twice that of the body below them. Color olivaceous, 3 dark- 

 brown longitudinal bands along the sides, the middle one from eye back- 

 ward reaching tips of middle caudal rays; the upper from occiput 

 backward to end of soft dorsal ; the lower from lower corner of eye to behind 

 anal; 2 very faint broad cross bars, the anterior from base of first dor- 

 sal to ventrals, the next from middle of soft dorsal to anal; tip of snout 

 and chin black; an oblique bar below eye; spinouH dorsal, pectoral, and 

 ventral black, edged with white; edges of caudal yellowish; anal with 

 brown points anteriorly. (Steindachner.) Barbados; not seen by us. 

 (pulcher, pretty.) 



Eques pulcher, STEINDACHNER, lehtli. Notizen, vi, 43, 1867, Barbados; JORDAN & EIGEN- 

 MANN, 1. c., 441, 1889. 



Subgenus EQUES. 



1876. EQUES LAXCEOLATUS (Linnams). 



(RIBBON FISH; GUAPENA; SERRANA.) 



Head 4 ; depth 2f ; eye 4. D. XIV to X VI-I, 53 ; A. II, 5 ; scales irregular, 

 with smaller ones intermixed ; about 12 of the anterior interneurals wedged 

 in between the occiput and the neural spine of the third vertebra ; distance 

 from tip of snout to first dorsal spine much less than depth of body. Body 

 deepest below first dorsal spine, rapidly tapering to the narrow caudal 

 peduncle; profile very steep, little convex; eye little longer than snout; 

 preorbital broad, nearly as wide as eye; mouth small, slightly oblique; 

 maxillary reaching to below anterior fourth of eye; teeth all villiforni in 

 broad bands, the outer scarcely enlarged ; preopercle with a fringed mem- 

 branous border; gill rakers very short and slender, 6-f-9; anterior dorsal 

 spines much elongate, If in body; soft rays low, the membranes scaled to 

 the tips; anal small, its second spine 3 in head; ventrals 1 in head; pec- 

 torals scarcely shorter. Color, light yellowish ; a narrow brownish band 

 from the corner of the mouth up across the middle of the eye and meeting 

 its fellow on top of head; another broader band edged with a narrow 

 white line on each side from the nape down and back over opercle, meet- 

 ing its fellow between the ventral fins and extending to the tips of their 

 outer rays ; a third and still broader band, also bordered by white, extend- 

 ing from the tips of the dorsal spines to their base, then downward and 



