414 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
narrow bands between eyes almost black, the lines edging the broad band on side and the acute-angled 
dark brown spot on caudal grayish blue; spinous dorsal brown; soft dorsal, anal, and pectoral light; 
caudal dusky; base of pectoral black. Description based chiefly on No. 03714, a specimen 8 inches 
long, from Honolulu. 
We have 9 examples, 4.85 to 9 inches long, all from Honolulu, where the species is common. 
Batistes rcctangulus Bloch & Schneider, Syst. Ichthy., 4C5, 1801, Indian Ocean; Gunther, Cat., VIII, 225, 1870; Day, Fishes 
of India, 001, pi. CLXXViu, fig. 2, 1878; Steindachner, Denks. Ak. Wiss. When, LXX, 1900, 517 (Honolulu). 
Batistes rinctus Bleaker, Atlas, V, 119, pi. 228, fig. 1, 1805, East Indies. 
Balistapus rcetangnlus, Fowler, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sei. Pliila. 1900, 514 (Hawaiian Islands); Jenkins, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., 
XXII, 1902 (Sept. 23, 1903), 483 (Honolulu); Snyder, op. cit. (Jan. 19, 1904), 534 (Honolulu; Puako Bay, Hawaii). 
337. Balistapus aculeatus (Linnteus). “Ilum.uhumu nuJcunuku apua’a.” Plate LXII. 
Head 2.75 in length; depth 2.2; snout 1.15 in head ; eye 7; interorbital 3.75, equal to cleft of mouth; 
I >. hi, 24; A. 22; first dorsal spine 2.3 in head, equal to length of pectoral; longest dorsal ray 3 in head, 
base of soft dorsal 1.3 in head; longest anal ray 3.5 in head, base of anal 1.5 in head; scales 38, 24 from 
anterior base of spinous dorsal to vent. 
Body oblong, compressed; dorsal and anal outlines similarly and evenly arched; head large; snout 
thick and blunt; mouth small, with thick lips; teeth rather long, incisor-like, notched, those in lower 
jaw the longer, those of upper jaw more notched; eye small, high, posterior; origin of first dorsal 
slightly posterior to gill-opening, the first spine blunt and strong, its anterior edge rugose; soft dorsal 
and anal moderate, with rounded profile; caudal slightly rounded; ventral spine movable, supported 
by a series of slender sharp spines; pectorals broad, rounded; scales covering entire head and body, 
those under soft dorsal slightly enlarged; some osseous plates behind gill-opening; usually 2j rows of 
sharp recurved spines on caudal peduncle, in some examples 2 full rows and from 1 to 3 shorter 
broken rows. 
General color in life (taken from No. 03455) yellowish green above, whitish below; lips pale yel- 
low; a narrow blue stripe extending from back of angle of mouth over snout to opposite side; snout 
and side of head pale greenish yellow 7 , becoming paler below; 4 bright blue lines across top of head 
between eyes, these separated by greenish lines of similar width; three narrow 7 blue lines extending 
from eye downward to low r er anterior base of pectoral, the first and last somewhat convex, the middle 
one nearly straight, the space between first and second yellowish white, that between second and 
third greenish; an irregular club-shaped band of orange-yellow from base of pectoral to snout, the 
posterior end somewhat expanded and more reddish, the anterior end gradually broadening and pass- 
ing on each side into the blue band across nose; side below spinous dorsal pale yellow 7 , somewhat 
dusky at base of spines; back of this an oblique broad, brick-red bar, then a shorter greenish-yellow 
one which is followed by a broader bluish-green bar, these all encroaching upon the soft dorsal and 
extending downward and forward, merging into an irregular broad longitudinal dusky area on middle 
of side, from which extend downward and backward 5 narrow curved greenish-yellow projections, 
separated by whitish spaces of similar M'idth which are encroachments from the general color of the 
ventral surface; side of caudal peduncle with a broad longitudinal pale bluish band in which are set 
the 4 series of small spines; base of caudal fin and tip of peduncle pale rosy; soft fins all dirty 
whitish, somewhat washed w r ith rosy and yellowdsh; first dorsal spine dusky in front, bluish on side; 
membranes connecting spines pale, with slight bluish wash; base of pectoral w 7 ith a narrow black 
vertical line. 
■ Color in alcohol, grayish with a large ragged-edged dark spot on side of body, one of the long 
edges extending to anal, broadening around anal region; 4 dark bluish black bands, divided by 3 
narrower brown ones, between eyes; 3 narrow bluish gray lines from eye to base of pectoral, the anterior 
one curved forward and extending from front part of eye to lower part of pectoral base, the other 2 
are separated b} 7 a darkish brown band as wide as eye and extending to base of pectoral; a bluish gray 
hand over front of snout, ending just posterior to cleft of month; the edges of dark spot on side edged 
with violet gray, these nearly filling the spaces and giving.tbe appearance of 4 or 5 bands extending 
from the axis downward to anal fin; a large grayish spot under spinous dorsal, another under anterior 
half of soft dorsal, these separated by an arm of the dark spot on side; violet gray on the anterior 
region covered by spines of caudal peduncle; spinous dorsal brown; other fins pale. Description 
chiefly from No. 03456, a specimen 8.5 inches long, from Honolulu. 
