11 (» 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Genus 63. FISTULARIA LinnEeus. 
Characters of the genus included with those of the family. 
Fistularia Linnaeus, Syst. Xat.. Ed. X. 312. 1758 (tnbacarin). 
Cannorhynchus Cantor. Malayan Fishes, 211,1850 ( tabacaria ); Fistnlaria being preoccupied by Fistularia Donati, 1750, apre- 
LinriEean genus of Polyps. 
Flayellaria Gronow, Cat. Fishes, eel. Cray, 1411,1854 (fistula.)'is -tahaca.ria). 
it. The long plates of posterior portion of lateral line unarmed . ' . petimba, p. llli 
« a. The long plates of lateral line each armed with a compressed spine directed backward. serrata, p. 116 
76. Fistularia petimba Lacdpede. 
Head 2.65 in length; depth 13 in head; eye 10 in head; snout 3.5 in body; interorbital 10; man¬ 
dible 4.5 in snout; D. 14 (14 to 17); A. 14 or 15. 
Interorbital space" slightly concave with a strong median ridge and fainter lateral ones, diverging 
both anteriorly and posteriorly; a rosette of short, diverging lines upon top of snout at about, one-ninth 
distance from eye; 2 ridges on upper surface of snout nearest together mesiallv, then diverging slightly, 
inclosing a central ridge and coining together again at tip of snout; lateral ridges finely serrate, 
anteriorly smooth; other ridges smooth, the lower lateral ridge serrate posteriorly, not showing from 
above; serrations on posterior rim of orbit above and on lateral occipital ridges; body much depressed, 
entirely smooth; depth one-half width; lateral line along middle of side, ascending, the lines from 
the 2 sides coming near together on back behind pectorals for a distance about eqnal to postorbital 
portion of head; lateral line on large specimens armed posteriorly with a series of embedded keels, 
which become smaller anteriorly, entirely disappearing somewhat in advance of dorsal; in small 
examples this keeled portion is asperate; distance of origin of dorsal fin from base of caudal about half 
length of snout; height of dorsal about twice eye; anal opposite dorsal and similar to it; caudal lobes 
smaller than dorsal; caudal filament 1.5 in snout; ventrals short, equal to eye. 
Color in alcohol, brown above, lighter below; fins pale. 
The above description chiefly from a specimen (No. 03584) 42 inches long, from Honolulu. We 
have also from Honolulu 2 examples (Nos. 02945 and 03131) 39 and 37 inches long, respectively; 98 
examples 6 to 17.5 inches long, from Hilo, and 1 specimen 19 inches long from Kailua; specimensfrom 
Japan and Samoa, and numerous specimens obtained by the Albatross in 1902 at Honolulu, Hilo, 
Necker Island, and Hanalei Bay, Kauai. We have examined 13 examples collected in 1889 by Dr. 
Jenkins at Honolulu, 20 small specimens'obtained by the Albatross November 8, 1899, in the harbor 
of Papeete, Tahiti, and a large example from the Philippines. Snyder mentions finding skeletons of 
this fish at Necker Island, where the fish had been carried ashore by birds. 
Fistularia pifimhtl- Lacepedc, Hist. Nat. Poi.xs., V, 349, 1803, New Britain, Isle of Reunion, equatorial Pacific; Jenkins, 
Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., XXII. 1902 (Sept. 23, 1903), 437 (Honolulu; Tahiti), Snyder, 1. e. (January 19, 1904), 523 
(Honolulu: Hilo; Hanalei Bay, Kauai; Necker Island). 
Fistularia tlrpri ssa Gunther, Report shore Fishes, Challenger, 09, pi. 32. lig. 1>, 1880, Sulu Archipelago (others from Natal: 
Zanzibar, Amboyna; China; New Guinea; New South Wales, Fiji Islands; and California): Jordan & Evermann, 
Fishes North & Mid. Amer., I, 757, 1890; Seale, Oecas. Papers Bishop Mus., I, No. 3, 64, 1901 (Guam). 
77. Fistularia serrata Cuvier. 
Head 3.6 in length; I). 13 to 15; A. 14 or 15; V. 6; branchiostegals 7. 
The tube into which the head is produced is exceedingly long, the part of the head situated behind 
the orbit being contained 6.5 times in its length; it is distinctly serrated on the outer edge, as high as 
broad near its base, and somewhat compressed in its anterior portion; a vertical cut across its middle 
would be hexagonal. The cleft, of the mouth is horizontal, extending nearly as far backward as the 
maxillary. Lower jaw prominent; intermaxillary styliform, not protractile; jaws and palatines armed 
with a series of small teeth; vomerine teeth rudimentary, if present. 
The upper surface of the tube is covered with a very thin skin; the middle is much more elevated 
than the lateral portions, at least on the basal half of the tube, and is formed by crenulated ridges, the 
outer of which arise from the anterior angle of the orbit, first convergent, and then keeping a parallel 
direction. The lateral edge of the tube is very distinctly serrated and provided with rather prominent 
spines posteriorly. The eye is elongate ovate, much longer than high, its horizontal diameter one- 
