ON THE EAST COAST OF FLORIDA. 



125 



S^a» 





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Illustration. Page. 



125. "EQUES LANCEOLATUS." 575 1489 



Ribbon Fish ; " Head 4 ; depth 2| ; eye 4. D. XIV to XVI-I, 



Guapena ; 53 • A. II, 5 ; scales irregular, with smaller ones inter- 



Serrana. mixed ; 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 villiform in broad bands, the outer scarcely 

 enlarged ; preopercle with a fringed membranous border ; gill rakers 

 very short and slender, 6 + 9 ; anterior dorsal spines much elongate, 

 \y± in body; soft rays low, the membranes scaled to the tips; anal 

 small, its second spine 3 in head ; ventrals 1 }i in head ; pectorals 

 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, meeting its fellow between the ventral fins and extending to 

 the tips of their outer rays ; a third and still broader band, also bor- 

 dered by white, extending from the tips of the dorsal spines to their 

 base, then downward and backward to the tips of the middle caudal 

 rays ; body below this band silvery white, above it somewhat darker." 



