Munroe: Systematics of western Atlantic Symphurus 
109 
recent information indicates that S. plagiusa is abun- 
dant in seaside estuaries behind barrier islands off 
the Delmarva peninsula (Norcross and Hata, 1990) 
where it has ranked among the ten most abundant 
species taken in trawls and beach seines with tick- 
ler chains. And in lower Chesapeake Bay and its 
lower tributaries, S. plagiusa has ranked sixth in 
numerical abundance among juvenile finfishes taken 
in the Bay during trawl surveys conducted over a 
20-yr period (Bonzek et al., 1993). 
Along southeastern and Gulf coasts of the United 
States and northern Mexico, S. plagiusa is the most 
common tonguefish encountered in estuarine and 
shallow-water environments. The southern limits of 
distribution for this species occur on the northwest- 
ern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula just north of 
Campeche (Ginsburg, 1951; Hildebrand, 1955; 
Castro-Aguirre et al., 1986; Fuentas Mata et al., 
1989; Kobelkowsky, 1991). 
Briggs (1958:298) reported that S. plagiusa oc- 
curred from Long Island, New York, to Argentina 
(40°S), but the southern portion of that reported dis- 
tribution is incorrect. In addition to S. plagiusa, 
Briggs included information for S. plagusia and per- 
haps also that for S. tesselatus and S. trewavasae. 
Beyond the North American continental margin, 
S. plagiusa has been reported from a number of lo- 
calities in the Caribbean Antilles (Ginsburg, 1951; 
Topp and Hoff, 1972; Sanson et al., 1978; Guitart, 
1978; Van der Veer et al., 1994) and coastal waters 
of South America (Regan, 1914; Lazzaro, 1973; Roux, 
1973; Lema and Oliveira, 1977; Lema et al., 1980; 
Manickchand-Heileman, 1994). Several citations 
(Regan, 1914; Ginsburg, 1951; Lazzaro, 1973; Roux, 
1973; Lema and Oliveira, 1977; Lema et al., 1980) 
are based on misidentifications of specimens of S. 
trewavasae (see summary in Menezes and Benvegnu, 
1976) or S. ginsburgi (Seret and Andreata, 1992). 
Other purported captures of S. plagiusa from Carib- 
bean localities (Jordan, 1886a:31, Jordan, 1886b:603) 
and South American localities have no associated 
voucher specimens and cannot be verified. Of speci- 
mens collected beyond coastal margins of North 
America and purportedly identified as S. plagiusa, I 
have seen voucher specimens of S. plagiusa only from 
the Bahamas (ANSP 101977, Eleuthera Island; 
ANSP 111567, 3 mi offshore Eleuthera Island; and 
USNM 265181, off southern Bahamas at 20°54'N, 
73°33'W) and Cuba (see Appendix). Symphurus 
plagiusa apparently is uncommon in the Bahamas, 
as Bohlke and Chaplin ( 1968) noted, who took only a 
few specimens during extensive searches they con- 
ducted in this region. 
Symphurus plagiusa also occurs in Cuban waters 
(Jordan, 1886a, Sanson et al., 1978; this study). Jor- 
dan (1886a:31) identified a tonguefish from Cuba as 
Aphoristia (= Pleuronectes ) plagiusa (Linnaeus) and 
again (Jordan, 1886b:6Q3) used that name in his 
checklist of fishes from the West Indies. Ginsburg 
(1951) identified two specimens collected in shallow 
Cuban waters as S. plagiusa. One specimen (USNM 
37750), although it has the 10 caudal-fin rays typi- 
cal for most specimens of S. plagiusa, has more fin 
rays (92 dorsal-fin rays and 78 anal-fin rays) than S. 
plagiusa ; counts more typical of S. tessellatus. I con- 
clude that this specimen is S. tessellatus. The other 
specimen (USNM 107365) from Siguanea Bay re- 
ferred to by Ginsburg is a juvenile (61.5 mm) whose 
counts (caudal-fin rays 10; dorsal-fin rays 87; anal- 
fin rays 71; total vertebrae 46; and 74 scales in a 
longitudinal series), ID pattern ( 1-4-3), and pigmen- 
tation features, including presence of pigmentation 
on both sides of the isthmus, a pigmented inner lin- 
ing of the ocular-side opercle, and presence of pig- 
ment (although rather faint) on the ocular-side gill 
filaments are all characteristic of S. plagiusa. How- 
ever, ratios of several morphometric features ex- 
pressed in thousandths of SL (BD 210; HL 218; CFL 
130) or thousandths of HL (ED 119) resemble those 
for S. parvus. On the basis of similarities in meristic 
and pigmentation features, however, this specimen 
does appear to be S. plagiusa. Among several lots of 
S. plagiusa identified among material examined at 
the Institute de Oceanologia, Havana, were seven 
specimens, including two mature females (one gravid) 
collected from both northern and southern coasts of 
the island. It reportedly is common on the mudflats 
and near grassbed habitats in the Golfo de Batabano 
(Claro) 7 (Appendix). Other specimens collected from 
Cuba and Puerto Rico identified as S. plagiusa were 
misidentified. The specimen from Cuba identified as 
S. plagiusa and figured in Guitart ( 1978:729) appears 
to be S. tessellatus, and both the color description 
and range of fin-ray counts provided in his account 
of S. plagiusa are more similar to those of S. 
tessellatus than they are to those of S. plagiusa. 
Van der Veer et al. (1994), using keys to coastal 
fishes of Georgia and nearby states (Dahlberg, 1975) 
as a taxonomic reference, identified juvenile 
tonguefishes collected from inshore habitats of Puerto 
Rico as S. plagiusa. Unfortunately, information con- 
tained in Dahlberg’s book does not include all 
tonguefish species known from Puerto Rico. No speci- 
mens reported in Van der Veer et al. (1994) were 
available for examination during this study. How- 
ever, among specimens from Puerto Rico that I have 
7 Claro, R. 1994. Cuban Academy of Sciences, Institute of 
Oceanology, Ave. Ira. no. 18406, Rpto. Flores, Playa, C. de La 
Habana, Cuba. Personal commun. 
