THE FISHES OF PORTO RICO. 
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135. Etelis oculatus (Cuvier & Valenciennes). “ Cachucho 
Head 3.5; depth 3.8; eye 3.4; snout 3.1; maxillary 2.1 ; mandible 1.7; interorbital 3.8; D. x, 11; 
A. in, 8; pectoral 1.1; ventral 1.5; caudal 0.8; scales 5-51-11. Body elongate, fusiform, not greatly 
compressed, caudal peduncle rather long and slender; scales large, regular, minutely ctenoid; top of 
head above eyes broad and flat, naked, skin somewhat rugose; top of head back of eyes with 2 lateral 
patches of scales, separated from those of body by a groove; cheek and opercles scaly, save preopercle, 
which is naked, its edge finely toothed; opercle ending in 2 weak, flat spines; eye very large; lower 
jaw projecting, maxillary reaching past front of pupil; teeth of up>per jaw in a villiform band with an 
outer enlarged row and 1 or 2 pairs of strong forward-pointing canines in front; lower jaw with a row 
of conical teeth on sides, villiform ones in front, without distinct canines; vomer with villiform teeth, 
palatines with a row of stronger conical ones; ventral accessory scale not well developed; dorsal deeply 
notched; caudal scaly, widely forked. 
Color: In life, bright-red nearly everywhere; in spirits, pale, the red nowhere persisting. 
A handsome, edible species. Length 2 to 3 feet. West Indies to Madeira; not yet known from 
Florida; in rather deep water; generally common on rocky bottom. 
One specimen, nearly 2 feet long, taken at Mayaguez. 
Serranus oculatus Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., It, 266, 1828, Martinique. 
Etelis oculatus, Jordan & Evermann, 1. c., 1282, 1898. 
Eig. 50 . — Etelis oculatus. 
Family XLV. HJEMULIDiE. The Grunters. 
Body oblong, or more or less elevated, covered with moderate-sized, adherent scales, which are 
more or less strongly ctenoid or almost cycloid; lateral line well developed, concurrent with back, 
usually not extending on caudal fin; head large, crests on skull usually largely developed; no suborbital 
stay; mouth large or small, usually terminal, low, and horizontal; premaxillaries protractile, their 
spines not greatly produced backward; maxillary without supplemental bone, for most of its length 
slipping under edge of preorbital, which forms a more or less distinct sheath; preorbital usually broad; 
no barbels; teeth all pointed, none of them forming marked canines; no teeth on vomer, palatines, and 
tongue; lower pharyngeals separate, with pointed teeth; gills 4, a large slit behind fourth; pseudo- 
branchiae large; gillrakers moderate; gill-membranes separate, free from isthmus; preopercle serrate or 
entire; opercle without spines; sides of head usually scaly; dorsal fin single, continuous or deeply 
notched, sometimes divided into 2 fins, spines usually strong, depressible in a groove, heteracanthous, 
that is, alternating, one stronger on right side, other on left, usually 10 to 12 in number; anal fin similar 
to soft dorsal, with 3 spines; ventral fins thoracic, rays i, 5, with a more or less distinct scale-like 
appendage at base; caudal fin usually more or less concave behind; air-bladder present, usually simple; 
stomach csecal; pyloric caeca few; vertebrae usually 10 + 14=24. Branchiostegals usually 6 or 7. 
Cranium with its muciferous system moderately developed or rudimentary. Intestinal canal short. 
Carnivorous fishes of the w r arm seas, most of them valued as food. The family includes about 15 
genera and nearly 150 species. It is very close to the Luiianidx on the one hand and to the Sparidx on 
the other, while some of its members show affinities with some Sdsenidee and Serranidx. 
