CORRESPONDENCE. 
To the Editor of the American Naturalist : 
Sır, — Under the name of Xenichthys xenurus, and afterward that 
of Kuhlia xenura, a fish in the U. S. National Museum, No. 4356, 
which was found in a bottle labeled * San Salvador," was described 
by Jordan and Gilbert. I have since had serious doubts whether 
this specimen really came from San Salvador and have thought that 
it was derived from some Asiatic source. Mr. Barton A. Bean has 
compared it at my request with the description of Kuhlia malo from 
the Hawaiian Islands. According to Mr. Bean it agrees perfectly 
with this species, except that the depth of body is 314 times in 
length, while in the adult of the other it is from 224 to 3. This 
difference is doubtless due entirely to difference in age. The pec- 
toral fin has the measurement recorded by Boulenger for Kuhlia 
malo, and the black on the posterior margin of the caudal is very 
apparent. Kuhlia xenura should therefore be stricken from the list 
of American fishes. It is probable that the type came from Hono- 
lulu, where Kuhlia malo is very abundant. DsI 
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, CALIFORNIA, 
November 15, 1900. 
