SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE OF FISHES. 



343 



dinal bands; caudal usually yellowish. (Named for Dr. Schopf, a surgeon with the Hessian 

 troops on Long Island during American Revolution.) 



Along the coast of the United States from Massachusetts to Texas, the fool- 

 fish or file-fish is well known, being caught in the nets of the commercial fisher- 

 men. It is called fool-fish because of its peculiar appearance and the general 

 stupidity shown in captivity; it will often remain in a pound net or other trap 

 when every other fish will have escaped through a rent in the netting. Its 

 rough, sandpaper-like skin has given rise to its other common name. 



The fish attains a length of 2 feet, and older examples exhibit 3 distinct color 

 phases: a dull, dirty, greenish-gray, a rich orange-yellow, and a milky white, 

 the yellow and white often being partly replaced by irregular areas of blackish- 

 gray. These colors appear to be independent of sex or environment, and fishes 

 representing each, as well as intermediate phases, may be taken together. 



Fig. 154. File-fish; Fool-pish. ' Ceratacanihv^ schcepfii. 



When the fish is swimming the head is lower than the tail, and the move- 

 ments and appearance are singularly awkward. In captivity the fish eat suc- 

 culent algae, the branches of which are bitten off and swallowed rapidly. 



The species is common on the shores of North Carolina. Specimens have 

 been taken for the Beaufort laboratory. Small examples examined by Professor 

 Linton at Beaufort in July and August contained bryozoans, shrimp, amphipods, 

 and sea lettuce. 



296. CERATACANTHUS PUNOTATUS (Agassiz). 

 Spotted File-fish; Long Mingo. 



Alutera punctata Agassiz, Pisces Brasilienses, 137, pi. 76, 1829; Brazil. 

 Ceratacanthtls punctatus^ Jordan & Evermana, 1898, 2860. 



Jordan & Evermann, 1898, 1719 . 



Diagnosis (based on North Carolina specimens).— Depth slightly less than .5 length; 

 width of peduncle 1.5 times diameter of eye; head contained 3.12 times in length; profile con- 

 cave; lower jaw projecting; teeth in a single series in each jaw; eye .25 length of snout and some- 

 what less than supraorbital space; giU-slit .33 length of head, its posterior end under pupil and 

 over base of pectoral; dorsal spine over posterior third of eye, short, slender, its length 2.5 



