612 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



MonacantJius massachusettensis De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 336, pi. 57, 

 fig, 187, 1842, Massachusetts Bay; Storee, Hist. Fish., Mass. 231, 

 pi. XXIV, fig. 4, 1867. 



Monacanthus setifer De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 337, pi. 59, fig. 194, 

 1842, New York Harbor; Goode & Bean, Bull. Essex Inst. XI, 4, 

 1879. 



Monacanthus hroccus De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 335, pi. 56^ fig. 183, 

 1842; Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 856, 1883. 



Monacanthus hispidus Bean, Bull. U. S. F. C. VII, 138, 1888; 19th Rep. 

 Comm. Fish. N. Y. 241, 1890; Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. IX, 369, 1897; 

 H. M. Smith, Bull. U. S. F. C. 1897, 104, 1898; Jordan & Evermann, 

 Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus. 1715, .1898, pi. CCLIX, fig, 635, 1900; Bean, 

 52d Ann. Rep. N. Y. State Mus. 107, 1900, Great South Biay. 



Body rather deep, tlie length being one and three fourths times 

 the depth and three and two fifths times the length of the head; 

 jaws subequal; eyes large, more than one third length of snout; 

 gill opening about as long as eye, separated from the eye by an 

 interspace nearly equal to its length; anterior profile slightly 

 concave; dorsal spine somewhat shorter than snout, inserted 

 above posterior part of eye, stout, rough, armed behind with two 

 rows of retrorse barbs; first ray of soft dorsal sometimes fila- 

 mentous, one half of total length without caudal; pectorals small, 

 one half length of snout; pelvic bone long, ending in a short, 

 blunt, movable spine, beyond which the abdominal flap does not 

 extend; length of free edge of flap when expanded not greater 

 than diameter of eye; scales minute, each with a crest of about 

 three prickles, those on the caudal peduncle villous, those on the 

 ventral flap larger, elongate; no naked areas; recurved spines on 

 tail. Length 10 inches. D. 1-82 to 33; A. 32 to 33; P. 15. 



Dull greenish mottled with darker; fins olivaceous, somewhat 

 blotched. Massachusetts bay to tropical seas ; abundant on our 

 South Atlantic coast. Also found through the West Indies to 

 Brazil, in the Canaries and Madeira. 



Mitchill and De Kay both recorded the filefish from New York, 

 where it was not uncommon in summer. 



This fish is taken in Gravesend bay in moderate numbers 

 occasionally in the fall. Individuals were sent from there in 

 September and November 1897. Some were living in a tropical 

 tank and feeding freely on December 11. A single specimen was 

 taken at Point of Woods, Great South bay, Aug. 16, 1898, 



