96 
Fishery Bulletin 96( 1 ), 1998 
Table 28 
Geographic variation in selected meristic features of 
Symphurus diomedeanus. (Abbreviations: SEUS = south- 
eastern United States; EGMX = Eastern Gulf of Mexico 
(to 91°W); WGMX = western Gulf of Mexico, including 
Yucatan shelf region; JAM = Jamaica; VI = Virgin Islands; 
PAN = Panama; COL = Colombia; VEN = Venezuela; GUY = 
Guyana; FG = French Guiana; NBR = Northern Brazil; 
SBR = Southern Brazil; URU = Uruguay; n = no. of fish 
measured.) 
Character 
Area 
n 
Mean 
Range 
SD 
Dorsal rays 
SEUS 
46 
90.9 
88-93 
1.44 
EGMX 
64 
90.5 
87-94 
1.53 
WGMX 
32 
90.3 
88-93 
1.12 
JAM 
9 
91.0 
89-93 
1.41 
VI 
2 
90.0 
89-91 
1.41 
PAN 
1 
— 
91 
— 
COL 
8 
91.4 
89-94 
1.92 
VEN 
6 
91.3 
90-93 
1.03 
GUY 
6 
91.8 
90-93 
1.17 
FG 
11 
91.3 
89-92 
1.68 
NBR 
5 
92.6 
92-94 
0.89 
SBR 
19 
91.4 
90-93 
1.16 
URU 
1 
— 
93 
— 
Anal rays 
SEUS 
46 
74.7 
69-77 
1.55 
EGMX 
64 
74.4 
72-77 
1.33 
WGMX 
32 
74.2 
72-76 
0.98 
JAM 
9 
75.7 
74-80 
1.80 
VI 
2 
73.0 
72-74 
1.41 
PAN 
1 
— 
76 
— 
COL 
8 
75.1 
73-77 
1.36 
VEN 
6 
75.0 
74-76 
0.63 
GUY 
6 
75.7 
74-76 
0.82 
FG 
11 
74.7 
73-77 
1.19 
NBR 
5 
76.6 
75-80 
1.95 
SBR 
19 
75.2 
71-78 
1.74 
URU 
1 
— 
75 
— 
Vertebrae 
SEUS 
46 
48.9 
47-50 
0.71 
EGMX 
64 
48.8 
47-50 
0.65 
WGMX 
31 
48.7 
47-50 
0.59 
JAM 
9 
48.8 
48-49 
0.44 
VI 
2 
48.5 
48-49 
0.71 
PAN 
1 
— 
49 
— 
COL 
8 
49.0 
49 
0.00 
VEN 
6 
49.2 
49-50 
0.41 
GUY 
6 
49.2 
49-50 
0.41 
FG 
11 
49.1 
48-50 
0.83 
NBR 
5 
49.0 
48-50 
0.71 
SBR 
19 
49.1 
48-50 
0.88 
URU 
1 
— 
49 
— 
gions had slightly higher counts, on average, than 
those taken from fishes collected in northernmost 
extents of the species range. 
1 Steyskal, G. C. ( deceased). 1989. Dep. Entomology, National Mu- 
seum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. 20560. Personal 
commun. 
Etymology The name Diomedea, from the Greek 
Diomedes, the name for a Greek hero in the Trojan 
War, has been used as a generic name for albatrosses 
(Brown, 1954). Apparently, Goode and Bean (1885b) 
chose this word as the stem name for this species’ 
specific epithet because the first specimen was cap- 
tured by the research vessel Albatross. At the time 
of the original description of this species, symphurine 
tonguefishes were placed in the genus Aphoristia, 
which is feminine in gender. To agree in gender with 
Aphoristia, Goode and Bean used the specific epi- 
thet diomedea. Later, when Aphoristia was placed 
in the synonymy of Symphurus Rafinesque (Jordan 
and Goss, 1889), the specific name of this species was 
emended to diomedeanus to agree in gender with the 
masculine Symphurus. This spelling (i.e. diomede- 
anus) prevailed until Ginsburg’s revision (1951), in 
which he accidentally changed the spelling of the 
trivial name to diomedianus. Ginsburg provided no 
comments regarding this change, but it is notewor- 
thy that the trivial name of the species is incorrectly 
spelled throughout the synonymy he provided, in- 
cluding the same misspelling for the original descrip- 
tion of Aphoristia diomedeana Goode and Bean. Sub- 
sequent checklists (Bailey et al., 1960; Robins et al., 
1991) and other references (see synonymy above) fol- 
lowed Ginsburg’s emended spelling of the trivial 
name. However, Ginsburg was incorrect in changing 
the spelling of the stem root from diomedea to 
diomedianus. The correct spelling of the specific epi- 
thet is diomedeanus. This emendation is based on 
the original spelling designated by Goode and Bean 
and agrees in gender with Symphurus (Steyskal 1 ). 
Remarks Goode and Bean (1885b) described Apho- 
ristia diomedeana from a single specimen collected 
off Tortugas, Florida. In 1896, they reported on ad- 
ditional specimens purportedly of this species, but 
that series has proved to be a mixture of species. 
Ginsburg (1951) discovered that the specimen 
(USNM 74331) from Albatross station 2121-2122 in- 
cluded in Goode and Bean’s (1896) account of S. 
diomedeanus was actually an undescribed species, 
which he described as S. pelicanus, designating the 
specimen in USNM 74331 as a paratype. Goode and 
Bean (1896) also identified as S. diomedeanus an- 
other specimen that was collected by the Blake off 
Dominica. It is conceivable that this is the specimen 
now catalogued as MCZ 27968, and referred to as S. 
stigmosus (see further discussion in species account 
of S. stigmosus above). 
In 1948, Chabanaud described S. sumptuosus, 
based on a single specimen collected off Rio de 
Janeiro, Brazil. The holotype of S. sumptuosus has 
10 caudal-fin rays and a series of spots on the dorsal 
