Munroe: Systematics of western Atlantic Symphurus 
129 
North Carolina have recorded this species from shal- 
low-water environments. For example, Schwartz et 
al. ( 1981) collected a few specimens in the Cape Fear 
River estuary but listed the species as rare in this 
area. It was also uncommon in fall and winter sam- 
pling of larval fishes in the Newport River estuary 
(Warlen and Burke, 1990), and only small numbers 
were taken in ichthyoplankton collections at two 
barrier island inlets in North Carolina (Hettler and 
Barker, 1993). 
Of 430 specimens of tonguefishes examined from 
estuarine waters of North Carolina in the present 
study, all but nine were S. plagiusa. Most juvenile 
S. civitatium co-occurred in samples with juvenile 
S. plagiusa. On the basis of the low frequency of oc- 
currence of S. civitatium in these samples (ca. 2% of 
total specimens), I concur with Schwartz et al. (1981) 
that S. civitatium is rare in inshore waters in North 
Carolina estuaries. However, although rare in North 
Carolina estuaries, this species is perhaps more 
abundant in estuaries farther south along coastal 
Georgia and northern Florida, where S. civitatium 
occur in greater abundance offshore. In some estu- 
aries along the Gulf coast west of the Mississippi, 
such as Barataria Bay, Louisiana, juvenile S. 
civitatium are more abundant in some inshore areas 
than are juveniles of S. plagiusa (Allen and Baltz, 
1997). The possibility that two co-occurring species 
of Symphurus can be present in estuarine samples 
of tonguefishes should be recognized in studies con- 
ducted in these areas along the southeast and Gulf 
coasts, and the seasonal occurrence, abundance, and 
fate of juvenile S. civitatium in these estuarine ar- 
eas needs further investigation. Deepwater captures 
(80-187 m) reported by McCaffrey (1981) for speci- 
mens purported to be S. civitatium taken on the con- 
tinental shelf in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico are 
questionable because they are based on more than 
one species (Munroe, 1991), and not all specimens 
could be located for inclusion in this study. 
Geographic variation Scarcely any variation was 
observed in dorsal- and anal-fin ray counts, and 
counts of total vertebrae of S. civitatium from five 
different areas of the geographic range (Table 36). 
Remarks Munroe ( 1991:266) discussed justification 
for the emended spelling of the specific epithet for 
this species. The “Material examined” section in the 
account of S. civitatium in Munroe (1991) lists 148 
paratype specimens counted but not measured. The 
148 actually refers to the total number of specimens 
from which meristic information was taken. Only the 
first 36 specimens, i.e. those that were clearly de- 
marcated from the others, are actual paratypes of 
Table 36 
Geographic variation in selected meristic features of Sym- 
phurus civitatium. Abbreviations: SEUS = southeastern 
United States; EGMX = eastern Gulf of Mexico; WGMX = 
western Gulf of Mexico; MEX = Mexico, including Yucatan 
shelf region; BERM = Bermuda; n = no. of specimens 
measured. 
Character 
Area 
n 
Mean 
Range 
SD 
Dorsal rays 
SEUS 
23 
89.83 
86-92 
1.614 
EGMX 
23 
89.83 
88-92 
1.193 
WGMX 
73 
90.16 
87-92 
1.155 
MEX 
48 
90.21 
86-93 
1.443 
BERM 
1 
91 
— 
— 
Anal rays 
SEUS 
23 
74.26 
71-76 
1.214 
EGMX 
24 
74.25 
73-76 
0.989 
WGMX 
74 
74.31 
70-77 
1.249 
MEX 
48 
74.33 
72-78 
1.310 
BERM 
1 
75 
— 
— 
Vertebrae 
SEUS 
23 
47.96 
47-49 
0.562 
EGMX 
25 
47.92 
47-49 
0.702 
WGMX 
76 
47.93 
46-50 
0.699 
MEX 
48 
48.02 
47-49 
0.688 
BERM 
1 
48 
— 
— 
this species. Remaining specimens listed in the 
counted section were specifically indicated as 
“nontypes.” The corrected list of material studied is 
presented below (see Appendix). 
Comparisons Symphurus civitatium is most simi- 
lar to, but has a completely allopatric distribution 
from, the Caribbean and South Atlantic species, S. 
plagusia, and differs from that species in its mod- 
ally lower meristic features (total vertebrae modally 
47-49 vs. 49-51 in S. plagusia; dorsal-fin rays 86- 
93 vs. 89-97; anal-fin rays 70-78 vs. 73-81); and 
degree of development of sexually dimorphic colora- 
tion. In S. civitatium, there is considerably more pro- 
nounced sexual dimorphism in pigmentation. Fe- 
males tend to have well-developed crossbands on the 
body, whereas in males the crossbands are less con- 
spicuous. In male S. civitatium, posterior portions of 
dorsal and anal fins are noticeably darkened with 
black pigment (black pigment absent in females). In 
contrast, in S. plagusia, both sexes are more or less 
uniformly pigmented with only slight evidence of 
banding on the body, and with vertical fins of both 
sexes uniformly colored with no darkening in the 
posterior portion of the body. 
Despite overlap in certain meristic values, S. 
civitatium and S. tessellatus are quite distinctive. The 
easiest way to distinguish these species is by noting 
that S. civitatium has a well-developed fleshy ridge 
on the ocular-side lower jaw (absent in S. tessellatus; 
