THE FISHES OF PORTO RICO. 
Ill 
64 . Atherina laticeps Poey. Cabezole. 
Head 3.5; depth 4.8; eye 2.3; snout 4; maxillary 2.1; mandible 2; interorbital 2.4; D. v-i, 9; A. i. 
10 or 11; pectoral 1.5; ventral 2; caudal 1.2; scales 38. Body elongate, somewhat compressed, espe- 
cially posteriorly, very heavy forward; head very large, flat above, interorbital space very broad, equal 
to eye, which is very large; snout very short, wide and blunt; mouth wide, very oblique; maxillary 
narrow, reaching beyond front of eye; lower jaw the shorter; jaws, vomer, and palatines with villiform 
bands of very short teeth; spinous dorsal of extremely slender flexible spines; scales large, with a 
glazed or enamel-like appearance, as if highly polished, in alcoholic specimens when dry. 
Color in life: Translucent green, silvery below with a well-defined silvery lateral band, below 
which is a series of dots along side; back with dark dots forming streaks along rows of scales; snout 
above with black dots; fins pale, nearly plain; a dusky shade at base of caudal. (Jordan & Evermann.) 
Caribbean Sea, north to western Florida. A small and very common species; 290 examples, 1.5 
to 3 inches in length, from Ponce and Culebra. 
Atherina laticeps Poey, Memorias, II, 265, 1861, Havana; Jordan & Evermann, 1. c., 790, 1896. 
65 . Atherina areea Jordan & Gilbert. 
Head 4.5; depth 6; eye 2.6; snout 4; maxillary 2.7; mandible 2.3; interorbital 3.1; D. vi-i, 9; 
A. i, 12; pectoral 1.5; ventral 2.2; caudal 1.4; scales 41. Body more slender and head smaller and 
more pointed than in A. laticeps or A. stipes; maxillary scarcely reaching front of orbit. 
Color of A. stipes, belly dusky behind vent; base of anal dusky, the color continued along caudal 
peduncle in a series of black dots; no black dots on sides. 
Gulf of Mexico to Key West and Cozumel. Uncommon in Porto Rico; only four specimens, 2.5 
inches in length, taken with A. laticeps, at Culebra. 
Atherina arsea Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. N. M. 1884, 27, Key West; Jordan & Evermann, 1. c., 790, 1896. 
Family XXIX. MUGILIDyF. The Mullets. 
Body oblong, more or less compressed, covered with rather large cycloid scales; no lateral line, 
but the furrows often deepened on middle of each scale so as to form lateral streaks. Mouth small, 
jaws with small teeth, or none, teeth various in form; premaxillaries protractile. Gill-openings wide, 
membranes separate, free from isthmus. Branchiostegals 5 or 6. Gillrakers long and slender. Gills 4, 
a slit behind fourth. Pseudobranchiae large. Two short dorsal fins, well separated, anterior with 
4 stiff spines, last one of which is much shorter than the others; second dorsal longer than first, similar 
to the anal; anal spines 2 or 3, graduated; ventral fins abdominal, not far back, composed of 1 spine 
and 5 rays; caudal forked. Air-bladder large, simple. Intestinal canal long. Peritoneum usually 
black. Vertebrae 24. 
The family comprises 8 or 10 genera and about 100 species, inhabiting the fresh waters and coasts 
of warm regions, feeding on organic matter contained in mud. 
“In the genus Mugil, a considerable indigestible portion of the latter is swallowed, and in order 
to prevent larger bodies from passing into the stomach, or substances from passing through the gill- 
openings, these fishes have the organs of the pharynx modified into a filtering apparatus. They take 
in a quantity of sand or mud, and after having worked it for some time between the pharyngeal bones, 
they eject the roughest and indigestible portion of it. The upper pharyngeals have a rather irregular 
