THE FISHES OF PORTO RICO. 
147 
Family XL. SERRANIDiE. The Sea Basses. 
Body oblong, more or less compressed, covered with adherent scales of moderate or small size, 
which are usually but not always ctenoid; dorsal and ventral outlines usually nut perfectly correspond- 
ing. Mouth moderate or large, not very oblique, the premaxillary protractile, and broad maxillary 
usually not slipping for its whole length into a sheath formed by preorbital, which is usually narrow. 
Supplemental maxillary present or absent. Teeth all conical or pointed, in bands, present on jaws, 
vomer, and palatines. Gillrakers long or short, usually stiff, armed with teeth. Gills 4, a long slit 
behind fourth. Pseudobranchhe present, large. Lower pharvngeals rather narrow, with pointed 
teeth, separate (except in Centrogenys ) . Gill-membranes separate, free from isthmus. Branchioste- 
gals normally 7 (occasionally 6). Cheeks and opercles always scaly; preopercle with its margin more 
or less serrate, rarely entire; operele usually ending in one or two flat spine-like points. Nostrils 
double. Lateral line single, not extending on caudal fin. Skull without cranial spines and usually 
without well-developed cavernous structure. No suborbital stay. Post-temporal normal. Second 
suborbital with an internal lamina supporting globe of eye; entopterygoid present; all or most of the 
ribs inserted on transverse processes when these are developed; anterior vertebrae without transverse 
processes. Dorsal spines usually stiff, 2 to 15 in number; soft dorsal with 10 to 30 rays; anal fin rather 
short, its soft rays 7 to 12, its spines, if present, always 3, in certain genera ( Grammtdhuv, JRi/pticinic) 
altogether wanting. Ventrals thoracic, usually i, 5 (i, 4, in Plesiopirue), normally developed, without 
distinct axillary scale. Pectoral well developed, with narrow base, rays branched. Caudal peduncle 
stout, the fin variously formed. Vertebrae typically 10+ 14=24, number sometimes increased, never 
more than 35. Air-bladder present, usually small, and adherent to wall of abdomen. Stomach 
csecal, with few or many pyloric appendages; intestines short, as is usual in carnivorous fishes. 
The Serranidx include 60 to 70 genera and about 400 species; carnivorous fishes, chiefly marine, and 
found in all warm seas; several genera found in fresh waters, comprising most of the family of Percidx, as 
understood by Gunther and others, exclusive of those with imperfect pseudobranchise, those with one 
or two anal spines, those with the number of vertebrae increased, those in which the whole length of 
maxillary slips under preorbital, and those with anal fin many-rayed, and cranium shortened behind. 
«. Anal spines 3, well developed. Dorsal fin single, sometimes deeply divided. 
6. Maxillary with a distinct supplemental bone (rarely obscured by the skin); dorsal usually divided or deeply notched 
c. Inner teeth of jaws not depressible nor hinged. 
LlOPROPOMINsE: 
i d. Soft dorsal longer than spinous part; dorsal deeply divided, spines 0 to 9 in number; preopercle entire; vertebra 
10 + 14 = 24; lateral line arched anteriorly. 
e. Dorsal spines 9; caudal lunate Liopropoma 
ce. Dorsal spines 6; caudal truncate .....' Chorististium 
PoLYPRIONINiE: 
dd. Soft dorsal shorter than spinous part; vertebra more than 24 (25 to 36); head without rugose dermal ossifications. 
Teeth all villiform, without canines; soft dorsal with 10 to 12 rays. Head armed with rough spinigerous crests, 
there being spinous projections above the eyes and a rough, bony ridge on operele, with others on post- temporal ; 
dorsal fin low, continuous; tongue with teeth; dorsal spines 11 or 12; soft dorsal scaly; caudal rounded; ventral 
not inserted before axil of pectoral; pyloric caeca numerous (about 70); vertebra 27 Polyprion 
Epinephelinle: 
ce. Inner teeth of jaws depressible or hinged; canine teeth more or less distinct, in front of each jaw; scales small, 
firm, the top of head more or less scaly; lateral line running low (except in Gonioplectrus. etc.); supraoccipital 
crest usually more or less encroaching on the top of the skull, so as to leave no distinct smooth area at vertex 
(except in Variola ); temporal crests usually distinct; gillrakers various, generally small and short. Dorsal 
rays vin to xiv, 12 to 20, number of spines usually not 10; anal rays nr, 7 to iii, 12; ventral fins inserted 
more or less behind axil of pectoral; head unarmed, except for opercular spines and serra on preopercle; soft 
dorsal scaly; scales of lateral line usually triangular and cycloid; vertebrae almost always 10 + 14 = 24, rarely 
26 or 27. Chiefly shore fishes, often of large size; all of them, so far as known, bisexual. 
/. Pectoral unsymmetrical , its upper rays longest; dorsal spines 8; plectroid spine on preopercle single, very strong; 
a strong canine on middle of side of lower jaw; operele with a long, knife-shaped spine; body rather deep: 
lateral line running high; jaws naked; scales small, firm, and rough; caudal rounded; soft dorsal rather short, 
of 12 or 13 rays Gonioplectri s 
ff. Pectoral rounded, symmetrical, its middle rays longest; canines usually distinct, in front of one or both jaws. 
g. Frontals with a transverse ridge on posterior part in front of supraoccipital connecting the parietal crests; frontal 
bones without processes or longitudinal ridges on upper surface; dorsal spines always 9. Posterior process of 
premaxillary extending to between frontals; mandible without curved canines on its sides; caudal notforked; 
scales ctenoid Petrometopon, 66 
yy. Frontals without transverse ridge. 
h. Dorsal spines 9; soft dorsal of moderate length and height, its rays 13 to 15; anal rays in, 7 or 8; skull and head 
essentiallvas in Epinrp/ulm. snout not very short, frontal region flat or convex, supraoccipital- crest continued 
forward over it; lateral crest short, low and diverging; mouth and teeth as in Epiia pliclur BpniANrx, 67 
