The Catalufas 



Body oblong-ovate; eye very large; mouth extremely oblique; 

 lower jaw strong and prominent; maxillary very broad posteriorly, 

 reaching beyond front of eye; opercle and angle of preopercle each 

 with a flat weak spine; dorsal spines slightly roughened; caudal 

 slightly lunate. 



Colour, body and fins nearly everywhere bright red, deepest on 

 ventrals and caudal; base of pectoral yellow; ventral spine pale blue, 

 the rays black-tipped, the membranes mostly dusky; caudal dark- 

 edged; a series of about 12 indistinct dark round blotches just above 

 lateral line; mouth red inside; iris chiefly bright red, a narrow yellow 

 circle about the pupil. 



The only other species deserving mention here is the ojudo or 

 big-eye, P. cruentatus. 



This fish ranges from the West Indies to St. Helena and the Ca- 

 naries. It is known from Cuba, Jamaica, and Porto Rico, but is not 

 recorded from any point on our Atlantic coast. It reaches a foot in 

 length, and is a good food-fish. It resembles the preceding species, 

 but the body is deeper, the preopercular spine stronger, and the colour 

 different. Colour, silvery, washed with rosy; back with 5 or 6 rosy 

 saddle-like blotches extending on sides to below lateral line; under parts 

 rosy; vertical fins pale at the base, brighter distally; caudal black- 

 edged; pectorals and ventrals rosy, the latter black-tipped. 



402 



