280 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
219. Lepidaplois strophodes Jordan & Evermann. “d’awa.” Plate XXIII. 
Head 2.75 in length; depth 2.75; eye 4.65 in head; snout 3.25; mouth 3.1; interorbital 4; D. xii, 
10; A. in, 12; scales 7-34-13. 
Body oblong, compressed; head longer than deep; upper and lower profiles evenly and slightly 
convex; snout long, pointed, rounded above; jaws produced, pointed, about equal; mouth large, 
maxillary reaching beyond front of eye; teeth strong, forming a sharp cutting edge on sides of jaws, 
front of each jaw with 4 large canines; eye rather large, anterior, high in head; posterior margin of 
preopercle very finely emarginate; interorbital space rather broad, convex; nostrils small, anterior in 
short tube; dorsal spines pungent, longest 3 in head, last 3.5; third anal spine longest, 2.8; third anal 
ray 1.9 in head; pectoral rounded, 1.7; ventrals pointed, 1.4; caudal broad at base, truncate; caudal 
peduncle broad, compressed, its depth 2; scales large, thin, those on front of dorsal, along its base and 
that of anal, small; lateral line concurrent with back, sloping down at caudal, then running straight 
to its base. 
Color in life, pale rosy white; upper parts of the snout, nape, and side to base of about ninth 
dorsal spine, lemon-yellow, extending down on side to level of upper edge of pupil; side of head 
very pale rosy, 2 irregular broken lines of wine-colored spots across snout and through eye to 
posterior edge of opercle, a similar row of 4 oblong spots from angle of mouth downward and 
backward to edge of opercle; cheek and side of lower jaw with numerous small irregularly placed 
orange spots; side with about 16 brighter rosy longitudinal lines, those above less distinct on 
account of the deeper rosy ground color, those below more distinct, the ground color being more 
white; side between anal and soft dorsal fins with a broad sooty black spot extending irregularly 
upon both fins and fading out upon body anteriorly, the posterior edge being nearly vertical and 
well defined; caudal peduncle and base of the caudal fin whitish, with a slight tinge of rosy, a pale 
rosy band separating this from the black lateral area; region in front and below the pectoral with 
about 4 series of small reddish-brown spots; pectoral region and the under parts somewhat bluish; 
dorsal fin rich lemon-yellow, the tips of the soft rays whitish, and a small, round, black spot on 
middle of membrane of second spine; base of soft rays and last dorsal spines rosy from intrusion 
of the rosy wash on side of body; last dorsal rays sooty black at the base from extension of the 
black spot on the side; caudal pale lemon-yellow; anal pale rosy in center, lemon on spines and 
along tip of tin, base of fin sooty black from intrusion of black spot on side of the body, the black 
extending farthest down on the interradial membranes; pectoral very pale rosy; ventrals pale rosy, 
the membranes bluish, the tip of second ray blackish. 
Color in alcohol (field No. 04291), gray-brown, gradually darker posteriorly; space between soft 
dorsal and anal abruptly black, the color extending forward in darker streaks along the rows of scales 
and forming a large black blotch on soft dorsal and anal; top of head and space before dorsal abruptly 
pale; posterior part of caudal peduncle also abruptly pale; a black blotch on dorsal between second 
and third spines, not involving third and fourth, as in L. bilunulatus; dorsal and caudal otherwise 
pale; a pale blotch at base of posterior dorsal rays; side with narrow dark brown longitudinal lines, 
coalescing posteriorly with the black blotch; 2 narrow brown streaks from lip to front of eye, then 
back across side of head above, edged with narrow, darker, wavy lines; a wavy streak from corner 
of mouth toward base of pectoral; lower side of head with small brown spots or blotches; ventral fin 
mostly dusky. 
This species is very close to Lepidaplois bilunulatus, differing chiefly in the dark zone on posterior 
part of body and in the smaller size of the dorsal spot. Our specimens are all young, but we have the 
young of L. bilunulatus scarcely larger and showing the markings of the adult. 
Our collection contains 5 specimens 3.75 to 4.7 inches long, all from Honolulu. 
Lepidaploisa strophodes Jordan & Evermann, Bull. U. S. Fisli Comm., XXII, 1902 (April 11. 1903), 190, Honolulu. (Type, 
No. 50672, U. S. N. M.) 
Genus 148. VERRICTJLUS Jordan & Evermann. 
Body elongate, subfusiform, compressed, with rather long pointed snout; mouth rather large, with 
anterior canines strong, | to f- ; posterior canines present; lateral teeth short, confluent in a serrated 
cutting edge; cheeks and opercles scaly; preopercle entire, both limbs more or less scaly; scales mod- 
a By typographic error spelled Lepidoplois. 
