250 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
191. Mulloides auriflamma (Forskal). “I Vcke;’’ “Weke ula.” Fig. 103. 
Head 3.6 in length; depth 3.6; eye 3.5 in head; snout 3.1; interorbital 3; maxillary 3; shortest 
distance between maxillary and eye 1.67 in longitudinal diameter of eye; D. vil-9, longest dorsal spine 
1.4 in head; A. 7, longest anal ray 2 in head; scales 3-40-6, 42 pores; gill rakers 24 + 8, the longest 2.5 
in eye, serrate, those on longer limb becoming short and blunt. 
Body oblong, compressed, deepest through anterior base of spinous dorsal; head moderate, com¬ 
pressed, its upper profile not straight, the line being slightly concave above eyes, the part anterior to nos¬ 
trils rat her steep; snout blunt; lower jaw slightly included; month rather small but oblique; tongue short, 
rounded anteriorly, not broad, thick, nor free anteriorly; teeth in a villiform band in each jaw; 
maxillary 1.3 in snoilt, not quite reaching anterior edge of orbit, rather large, covered anteriorly 
by a sheath; eye moderate, high, median; adipose eyelid slight, not nearly halfway to pupil ante¬ 
riorly ; barbels reaching to piisterior edge of preoperele; pseudi>hranchiae well developed ; spinous dorsal 
high, its posterior edge nearly truncate, its base equal to longest spine, distance from anterior base to 
tip of snout equaling distance from anterior base across body to anterior base of anal; soft dorsal 
slightly concave; caudal deeply forked; anal similar to soft dorsal, inserted slightly behind it; ventrals 
reaching slightly beyond pectoral, the rays equal in length, and equal to longest dorsal spine; lateral 
line concurrent with the back; scales large, slightly ctenoid; entire body and head scaly. 
Color in life, upper half of head, nape and back rosy red, richest on head; lower half of head 
white with very light rosy wash; side with a pale yellow band a scale wide, from eye to base of caudal, 
most distinct anteriorly; lower two-thirds of side white, with a light rosy wash; fins all pale rosy, 
except pectoral, which has a slight lemon-yellow wash; iris white with narrow inner rosy ring. Color 
in alcohol, dusky gray, tins all pale, except slight indications of black on upper posterior edge of 
dorsal spines. This description based chiefly on No. 02986, an example 8.5 inches long, from 
Honolulu. 
Another specimen, No. 03479, from Hilo, had in life back violet red with some slight yellowish 
edging to scales; a broad yellow stripe from eye to base of caudal; a yellow streak horizontally below 
eye; lower part of side pale rosy; barbels white; tins all light orange, rosy and golden shaded, without 
marking; first dorsal darkest; iris red. 
The collection contains 8 other examples from Honolulu and 4 from Hilo. We have also examined 
a specimen 10 inches long, collected by Dr. Jenkins at Honolulu, and others obtained at that place 
by the Allialross. 
This fish is rather common in the market of Honolulu, being taken inside the reef. The 28 
specimens we have are 3.25 to 14 inches long. 
