THE FISHES OF PORTO RICO. 
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Genus 34. HYPORHAMPHUS Gill. The Half-beaks. 
Body elongate, moderately compressed, sides of body not vertical, but more or less convex; the 
dorsal outline parallel with that of belly. Upper jaw short; lower jaw prolonged into a slender beak, 
bordered with membrane; the beak shorter in the young; premaxillaries forming a triangular plate, 
the teeth of which fit. against the toothed portion of mandible; maxillaries joined to premaxillaries. 
Teeth feeble, mostly tricuspid. Gillrakers rather long. Head covered above with large, shield-like 
scales. Scales large, deciduous. No finlets; caudal more or less forked, lower lobe the longer; dorsal 
and anal similar, opposite each other, not modified in male; last ray of dorsal usually short; vent.rals 
small, inserted well forward, nearly midway between opercle and base of caudal. Air-bladder large, 
simple, not cellular. Young with lower jaw short. Side in our species with a distinct silvery band, 
as in Atherina. Oviparous. 
Species numerous in all warm seas, going in large schools, but usually remaining near the shore, 
feeding chiefly on green algee. 
a. Length of mandible from tip of upper jaw less than rest of head in adult (longer in young) ; body rather stout; 
D. 15; A. 16 unifasciatus, 51 
an. Length of mandible from tip of upper jaw not less than rest of head, at all ages, much greater in adult; body 
more slender. D. 14; A. 15 roberti 
51. Hyporhamphus unifasciatus (Ranzani). “ Balaju Escribano. 
Head 4.6; depth 6.8; eye 4; snout 2.8; maxillary 3.2; mandible 3; interorbital 3.6; D. 14 or 15; 
A. 14 to 16; pectoral 1.6; ventral 3.2; lower lobe of caudal 1.1; scales 52. 
Body elongate, not greatly compressed, sides not parallel, back wider than belly; lower jaw 
produced into a long beak which, from tip of upper jaw, is shorter than rest of head, this character 
separating the species from H. roberti , in which at all ages the mandible from tip of upper jaw is at 
least as long as head and in adults much longer; dorsal and anal fins completely scaled, the anterior 
rays produced but not falcate; lower lobe of caudal the longer; lateral line running very low, close to 
ventral fin, demarcating side from belly. 
Color in life: Back pale-olive or greenish; scales with dark punctulations forming a streak near 
border; 3 narrow distinct black lines along middle of back from occiput to dorsal fin, the median one 
faintest; dorsal and anal pale, dusky-tipped; caudal pale, dark-edged; fleshy tip of beak red; a distinct 
silvery lateral band, about as wide as eye, from upper part of base of pectoral to base of caudal. 
The balyhoo is very common in the West Indies, ranging from Key West to Rio de Janeiro, and 
is considerably used for food; it often leaps from the water and swims in schools, skimming along the 
surface, 43 examples, 4 to 10j inches, from San Antonio Bridge, San Juan market, Boqueron, Ponce, 
Hucares, and Isabel Segunda. 
Hemirliamphus unifasciatus Ranzani, Nov. Comm. Ac. Sci. Bonon., V, 1842, 326, Brazil. 
? Hemirhamphus picarti Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. , XIX, 25, 1846, Algiers. 
Hemirhamphus richardi Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XIX, 26, 1846, Antilles; Cayenne; Bahia.; Rio de Janeiro 
Hyporamphus tricuspidatus Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1859, 131, Barbados. 
Hemirhamphus fasdatus Poey, Memorias, II, 299, 1861, Cuba; not of Bleeker. 
Hemirhamphus poeyi Gunther, Cat., VI, 262, 1866, Cuba; after Poey. 
Hyporhamphus unifasciatus, Jordan & Evermann, 1. c., 720, 1896. 
Genus 35. HEMIRAMPHUS Cuvier. The Balaos 
Body more robust than in Hyporhamphus and different in form, the sides of body being compressed 
and nearly vertical and parallel. Head and jaws as in Hyporhamphus. Dorsal longer than anal fin and 
inserted farther forward, its last ray more or less produced in American species. Ventral fins small and 
inserted well backward, much nearer base of caudal than gill-opening. Air-bladder cellular with many 
