Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 1635 



ish or reddish, not spotted; no dark axillary spot; pectoral with white 

 points at base. Length 210 mm. Cuba. (Poey); probably not distinct 

 from Sparisoma abildyaanU. (6%vg, sharp; fipaxioav, arm.) 



Scarus oxybrachius, POEY, Synopsis, 342,1868, Havana. 



2046. SPARISOMA ABILDGAARDI (Bloch). 

 (RED PARROT-FISH ; HOSE-BACK PARROT.) 



Head 3^ (3| with caudal); depth 2J (3|). D. IX, 10; A. II, 9; scales 

 2^-24-6. Body rather deep; a small, bluntish canine on each side of 

 upper jaw in front of angle of mouth; upper lip covering most of upper 

 jaw. Head rather short; eye rather large, 4-j- in head; snout rather 

 acute, 2|; cheeks with a single row of large scales; each pore of lateral 

 line with 5 to 8 branches covering most of the scale; 4 scales on median 

 line before dorsal. Pectorals rather longer and sharper than in related 

 species, not reaching far past tips of ventrals; caudal fin lunate; the 

 middle a little convex when spread open, the outer rays slightly pro- 

 duced, the upper rays 14- * n head in the largest specimens examined. Color 

 in spirits, almost plain dark brown, somewhat mottled with paler; a few 

 dark dots on opercle, the edge of the opercle being more or less blackish ; 

 pale gray below, from tip of lower jaw to caudal; teeth pale, tinged with 

 reddish ; jaws pale ; all the fins pale, the dorsal narrowly edged with dusky, 

 the fin somewhat mottled with darker ; axil of pectoral pale, the base dusky 

 above. In life, the dorsal, caudal, lower fins, and belly are bright cherry 

 red; rest of body brown, tinged with red; pale dots and mottlings on 

 sides of head and on body. West Indies south to Brazil; generally com- 

 mon. Here described from Havana specimens, 8 inches long. (Named 

 for Abildgaard, professor in the University of Copenhagen, author of 

 descriptions of worms.) 



Vieja, PARRA, Descr. Dif. Piezas Hist. Nat., 58, pi. 28, fig. 2, 1787, Cuba. 



Scarus abildgaardi, BLOCH, Ichthyol., pi. 259, 1791, America; from a specimen sent by 



Prof. Abildgaard. 



Scarus coccineus, BLOCK & SCHNEIDER, Syst. Ichthyol., 289, 1801, Cuba; after PARRA. 

 Scarus aureoruber, LACEPEDE, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 55, 163, 1803, Martinique, on a drawing 



by PLUMIER. 

 Scarus amplus, RANZANI, Nov. Comm. Ac. Scient. Inst. Bonon., 324, taf. 5, pi. 25, 1842, 



Brazil (fide GUICHENOT; not seen by us.) 



Scarus erythrinoides, GUICHENOT, Scarides, Mus. Paris, 10, 1865, San Domingo. 

 Scarus oxybrachius, POEY, Synopsis, 342, 1868, Cuba. 

 Scarus abildgaardi, CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., xiv, 175, 1839: GUNTHER, 



Cat., iv, 209; GUICHENOT, Scarides, Mus. Paris, 10; POEY, Enumeratio, 111; COPE, 



Trans. Am. Philos. Soc. 1871, 462. 

 Sparisoma abildgaardi, SWAINSON, Nat. Hist. Class. Fishes, etc., n, 227, 1839; JORDAN & 



SWAIN, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1884, 97 ; JORDAN, Proc. F. S. Nat. Mus. 1886, 47; JORDAN, 



Review Labroid Fishes, 676, 1890. 



2047. SPARISOMA DISTINCTUM (Poey). 



Depth 3J- in length; eye 5 in head, 2 in snout; snout sharp; body deep, 

 usually a small posterior canine, this, however, often absent; scales of lat- 

 eral line with a central tube, which bifurcates and which has a very short 



