316 
BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OP FISHERIES 
carolinus. No indications of dark saddlelike blotches are present on the back. These specimens 
differ from P. scitulus, a related species, known from North Carolina southward, principally in having 
a broader interorbital, shorter dorsal spines, none of them reaching beyond the tips of the posterior 
spines when deflexed and not to origin of second dorsal, whereas in P. scitulus the longest spines 
reach well beyond the tips of the posterior spines and to origin of second dorsal. The caudal fin in 
the present species is rather deeply concave posteriorly. In P. scitulus the margin is nearly straight. 
We are unable to identify the specimens in hand with any known species and, although very closely 
related to P. carolinus, they differ slightly in so many characters that we are convinced they represent 
a distinct species. We therefore are obliged to propose a new name. The genus, however, is in 
need of a critical study, and until such a study is made the true relationships of the species will not 
be known. We have reviewed the literature pertaining to the Atlantic coast species and had speci- 
mens of other species for comparison and for stud} 7 only from Chesapeake Bay and Beaufort, N. C. 
The species probably is rare in Chesapeake Bay. It was taken only in the beam trawl; one 
specimen was obtained at a depth of 14)/£ fathoms and the other at 10 fathoms. 
Chesapeake localities. — Off Kent Island, Md., and off Old Point Comfort, Va. 
Family LXXVII. — CEPHALACANTHID/E. The flying gurnards 
Body elongate, rather broad, sides rather vertical; head blunt, quadrangular, nearly the entire 
surface bony, the bones about the eye united into a shield; a long, bony process ending in a sharp 
spine, extending backward from nape to beyond origin of dorsal; preorbital projecting beyond the 
jaws; preopercle extending backward as a long round spine, reaching beyond the base of ventrals; 
mouth small, inferior; teeth granular, present only on the jaws; gill openings restricted to the sides; 
pseudobranchiae large; scales small, keeled; dorsal fin consisting of slender spines and rays; pectoral 
fins greatly enlarged, divided into two sections, the inner section much the longer. This family 
contains one genus, with a single representative in American waters. 
135. Genus CEPHALACANTHUS Lacepede 
The characters of the genus are included in the description of the family. The flying gurnards 
possess the power of flight, but to a much less degree than the true flying fishes. 
174. Cephalacanthus volitans (Linnaeus). Flying fish; Flying robin. 
Trigla volitans Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. X, 1758, p. 302; Mediterranean Sea and oceans within the Tropics. 
Daciylopterus volitans Uhler and Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 101; ed. II, p. 85. 
Cephalacanthus volitans Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2183, PI. CCCXXIII, fig. 778. 
Head 3.95; depth 5.5; D. VI-I, 8; A. 6; scales 59. Body elongate, depressed, somewhat 
broader than deep; head depressed; snout short, blunt, its length 2.65 in head; eye 3; interorbital 
broad, concave, 1.85; mouth moderate; upper jaw projecting; maxillary reaching nearly to pupil, 
2.6 in head; teeth in the jaws blunt, in bands; preopercle with a very large long spine, its free portion 
