[27] REVIEW OF THE LABROID FISHES. 625 



eye extending downward to middle of cheek, where there are five or six series; 

 pectorals 4£ in length ; color blackish or greenish; the young usually with about 

 three pairs of dark bars connected by reticulations ; adult often nearly plain 

 blackish ; chin white ; D. XVI, 10 ; A. Ill, 8 ; Lat. 1. 60 Otitis, 24. 



24. HIATULA ONITIS. (Plate II.) 



(Tautog; Blackfish; Oyster-Fish.) 



Labrii8 onitis Linnseus, Syst. Nat., ed. x, 286, 1758 ; ed. xii, 478, 1766 (habitat un- 

 known) and of the copyists. 

 Tautoga onitis Giinther, iv, 88, 1862 (Boston ; New York ; Beesley's Point) ; Jordan & 



Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1878, 374 (Beaufort, N. C.) ; Bean, Proc. U. S. 



Nat. Mus., 1880, 87 (Wood's Holl, Mass.; Nojuik, Conn.; Massachusetts Bay); 



Jordan & Gilbert, Syn. Fishes N. Am., 600, 1883; Goode, Nat. Hist. Aquat. 



Anim., 268, 1885. 

 Hiatula onitis Jordan & Gilbert, Syn. Fishes N. Am., 600, 1883; Jordan, Proc. U. S. 



Nat. Mus., 1886, 28 (Beaufort, N. C). 

 Labru8 kiatula Linnseus, Syst. Nat., ed. xii, 475, 1766 (Carolina); Jordan, Proc. U. S. 



Nat. Mus., 1885, 396 (note on Linnseus' type). 

 Hiatula hiatula Goode & Bean, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1885, 201 (note on type of Labrus 



hiatula). 

 Labrus carolinus Bonnaterre, Tableau Enclycloped. et Method., Ichthyologie, 113, 1788 



(Carolina), (after Linnaeus). 

 Labrus, Blackfish, Schcepf, Schrift der Gesellsch. Natur. Freuude, viii, 156, 1788 (New 



York). 

 Labrus subfuscus Walbaum, Artedi Piscium, 254, 1792 (after Schcepf ). 

 Labrus tessellatus Bloch, Ichthyologie, taf. 291, 1792 ("Norway"). 

 Tautoga tessellata Cuv. & Val., xiii, 315, 1839 (after Bloch). 

 Hiatula gardiniana Lac6pede, Hist. Nat. Poiss, ii, 522, 1800 (after L. hiatula Lin- 



nieus). 

 Labrus americanm Bloch & Schneider, Syst. Ichth., 261, 1801 (after Schcepf); Ayres, 



Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist., iv, 263, 1842 (Brookhaveu ; Sag Harbor; Greenport; 



Gardiner's Bay, Long Island). 

 rautoga americana Storer, Hist. Fish. Mass., 276, 1867 (Plymouth; Lynn ; Boston ; Well- 

 fleet) ; Dekay, New York Fauna, Fishes, 175, pi. xiv, f. 39, 1842 (New York). 

 \abru8 tautoga Mitchill, Trans. Am. Phil. Soc, 399, 1815 (Long Island; Rhode Island; 



Cape Cod ; Sandy Hook). 

 labrus tautoga fusca Mitchill, Trans. Am. Phil. Soc, 402, 1815. 

 jabrus tautoga rubens Mitchill, Trans. Am. Phil. Soc, 402, 1815. 

 labrus tautoga alia,\. c, 402, 1815. 



Habitat. — Atlantic coasts of the United States, from Cape Ann to 

 Uharleston. 



Etymology : 1 0vltl<:, a kind of plant ; application unexplained. 



The tautog is one of the most valuable food fishes of the Atlantic 

 coast. It is generally abundant within its range, and its flesh is of su- 

 perior quality. The largest specimen known, according to Professor 

 Goode, has a length of about 3 feet. 



It is probable that this is the Labrus onitis of Linnaeus, but the de- 

 scription is too incomplete to permit absolute certainty of identification. 

 H. Mis. 133 40 



