626 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [28] 



Genus VII.— LACHNOLAIMUS. 



Lachnolaimus Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., xiii, 274, 1839 {aigula = 

 maximus). 



Lachnoleemus Jordan & Gilbert, Syn. Fishes N. Am., 600, 1883 (amended orthog- 

 raphy). 



Type: Lachnolaimus aigula C. & Y.—Labrus maximus Walbaum. 



Etymology : Ad^vn^^ wooly ; Aat/idq, throat, part of the surface of the 

 pharyngeals being covered with a velvety membrane. 



This geuus contains a single species, a large, showy fish of tropical 

 America, remarkable for the long streamer-like filaments on the dorsal 

 spines. 



ANALYSIS OF SPECIES OF LACHNOLAIMUS. 



a. Body deep, strongly compressed, the back much elevated, the profile long and 

 steep ; snout sharp ; canine teeth prominent ; filamentous dorsal spines reaching 

 to last rays of soft dorsal. Color reddish gray, varying to brick red; some of 

 the scales olive-green at base, cheeks greenish, head mottled; a large round 

 blue-black blotch at base of last rays of soft dorsal ; caudal grayish, with three 

 rows of dull olive spots; anal similarly colored; an undulate blue line below 

 eye; deep-water fishes brick-red or orange red; adult male with vertical fins 

 blackish at base, the black forming a crescent on the caudal ; frontal region 

 from snout to occiput abruptly blackish; head 3 in length; depth 2£; D. XIV, 

 11 or 12; A. Ill, 11. Lat. 1. 39 Maximus, 25. 



25. LACHNOLAIMUS MAXIMUS. (Plate III.) 



(Hog Fish; Capitaine; Perro Perro.) 



Suillus (The Great Hog Fish) Catesby, Nat. Hist. Carolina, pi. 15, 1750. 



Labru8 maximus Walbaum, Artedi Piscium, 261, 1792 (after Catesby). 



Lachnolcemus maximus Jordan, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1884, 546; Jordan, 1. c, 1886, 45 



(Cuba). * 



Lachnolaimus suillus Cuvier, Regne Animal, Ed. ii, 1829 (after Catesby) ; Cuvier and 



Val., xiii, 286, 1839 (Saint Thomas) ; Poey, Enumeratio, 105, 1875 (Havana); 



Bean & Dresel, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1884, 153 (Jamaica); Jordan, 1. c, 



134 (Key West.) 

 Lachnolaimus aigula Cuv. & Val., xiii, 277, 1839 (St. Bartholomew). 

 Lachnolaimus dux Cuv. & Val., xiii, 285, 1839 (Martinique). 

 Lachnolaimus caninus Cuv. & Val., xiii, 288, 1839 (St. Thomas ; San Domingo) ; Poey, 



Synopsis, 330, 1868 (Havana). 

 Lachnolaimus psittacus Cuv. & Val., xiii, 291, 1839 (Porto Rico). 

 Lachnolaimus falcatus Giiuther, iv, 87, 1862 (Cuba; Jamaica; Puerto Cabello) 



(after Labrus falcatus L., but the Linnaean falcatus is probably aTrachinotus) ; 



Goode, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., v, 1876, 36 (Bermudas) ; Goode, Nat. Hist. 



Aquat. Anim., 1885, 275 (Key West); Jordan & Gilbert, Syn. Fishes N. 



Am., 601, 1883; Stearns, Nat. Hist. Aquat. Anim., 275, 1885; Jordan & 



Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1884, 134 (Key West). 



Habitat. — West Indies, north to Key West. 

 Etymology : Maximus, largest. 



This large and showy species is generally common in the West Indies. 

 It reaches sometimes a weight of 12 to 15 pounds, and is generally es- 



