Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 1857 



2250. PONTINUS POLLUX,* Poey. 



Very closely related to Pontinus castor in form and color, distinguished 

 principally by its skeleton. D. XII, 10; A. Ill, 5; P. 17. Body higher 

 than in Pontinus castor, head smaller; eye larger, 11 in total length, 4 in 

 head ; maxillary reaching anterior third of orbit ; interorbital space only 

 ^ of ocular diameter; occiput no more depressed than in Pontinus castor. 

 First suborbital with 2 quite strong spines on its inferior border, and 1 on 

 its crest; a double spine on second suborbital, ^on third, in a line with 

 the double anterior preopercular spine, below the latter 3 others ; the other 

 spines as in Pontinus castor. The long bony snprascapular tentacle more 

 slender; a small preorbital tentacle; others present on the points of some 

 of the dorsal spines; the rest difficult to distinguish. Pectoral rounded; 

 spinous dorsal high. General color carmine red, with vertical rosy bands; 

 these 2 colors alternating on the fins ; iris vermilion ; peritoneum silvery. 

 Length 9f inches. Havana, very rare (Poey) ; not seen by us. (Pollux, 

 one of the Gemini or twins.) 



Pontinus pollux, POEY, Memorias, u, 174, 1S60, Havana. (Coll. Poey.) 



L'251. PONTINUS RATHBUNI, Goodo & Bean. 



Head about 2 ; depth about 2| ; eye and snout equal, 4 in head. D. XII, 

 10; A. Ill, 5; P. 17. Greatest width of head equals middle caudal rays. 

 Interorbital space not very deeply concave, about 2f in eye, about 10 in 

 head. Maxilla nearly reaching posterior margin of eye, about 2 in head. 

 Mandible reaching beyond eye, equal to postorbital part of head, twice 

 as long as eye. Teeth in villiform bands on jaws, vomer, and palatines; 

 a naked space at symphysis of intermaxillaries. A pair of recurved spines 

 on preorbital, 4 on suborbital carina ; 4 on preopercle, the uppermost with 

 a smaller supplementary spine at its base, the first and third largest ; a 

 pair of compressed flat spines on opercle; nasal, preocular, supraocular, 

 postocular, tympanic, parietal, and nuchal spines present; single pos- 

 terior spine on each side and 2 humeral spines. Two gill rakers and 5 

 rudiments above the angle, and 8 rakers and 5 rudiments on the anterior 

 limb, the longest about 6 in eye, slightly expanded at the tips. Pseudo- 

 branchia) well developed. A very short and slender preocular and a large 

 supraoccipital (supraocular?) filament, the latter about 1-J- in eye, expand- 

 ing at top into a sernileaf-like tip ; a small, slender filament between pari- 

 etals and nuchal spines, a combined filament behind the lower preorbital 

 spine : anterior nostril tubular, with 2 or 3 small filaments. Interorbital 

 space with few scales ; top of snout fully scaled ; head entirely scaly above. 

 Distance of spinous dorsal from tip of snout equals length of base of 

 spinous dorsal, 2| in body length; first spine 2 in second; third longest, 

 2 in head, equal to upper jaw, twice as long as penultimate spine; last 

 spine equals eye, 4 in head ; base of soft dorsal 4, and longest rays 6 in 



* Poey states that he neglected to take notes on the generic characters founded upon 

 the scales of the head and the simple rays of the pectoral in Pontinus pollux, but the 

 species is so nearly related to Pontinus castor that he believes it belongs to the same 

 genus. 



