234 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
with elongate scales on basal portion; lateral line following outline of back 1 scale beyond end of dorsal 
fin, thence interrupted and continued on 4 scales of middle of caudal peduncle. 
Color in life: Very intense grass-green, about uniform over the body ; head more yellowish, slightly 
paler below; opercle mesial ly a little darker; iris red, with a green ring; dorsal, anal, and caudal 
grass-green, mottled with light-orange; tips of lower spines green, of short ones orange; ventral s deep- 
green, membranes largely orange; pectoral light-yellowish. 
Found in the West Indies north to Key West, rare. Length 2.75 inches. Here described from 
the type of Doratonotus thalassinus, obtained with a seine in eelgrass at Key West. The Porto Rican 
collections contain but a single specimen of this beautiful little species. It is 1.75 inches long and was 
seined among the algse at Hucares. 
Doratonotus megalepis Gunther, Cat., IV, 125, 1862, St. Kitts; Jordan & Evermann, 1. c., 1011, 1898. 
Doratonotus thalassinus Jordan At Gilbert, Proc. U. S. N. M. 1881, 28, Key West. 
188. Doratonotus decoris Evermann & Marsh. 
(Plate 29.) 
Head 2.6; depth 3.4; eye 4; snout 3.5; maxillary 4; interorbital 4.6; D. ix, 10; A. in, 9; pectoral 
1.6; ventral 2.2; caudal 1.6; scales 1-26-6. Body moderately elongate, compressed throughout; back 
a little elevated, caudal peduncle deep and rather long; dorsal and ventral outlines nearly alike, dorsal 
somewhat more strongly arched; anterior profile not trenchant, almost straight from snout to front of 
dorsal, very slightly convex in front of dorsal and very slightly concave between eye and tip of snout; 
head pointed, interorbital space broad and flat; eye large, high in position, middle of pupil nearer tip 
of snout than end of opercle; snout long, somewhat longer than diameter of eye, moderately produced, 
lips broad in front, characteristically labroid; mouth not large, maxillary not reaching front of orbit, 
the jaws equal, armed with strong sharp teeth, about 4 canines in front of upper jaw, 2 in front of 
lower; teeth on sides of jaws also canine-like, smaller than those in front, but not distinctly different 
from them; a few smaller teeth behind the main row of large ones; vomer and palatines toothless; 
soft dorsal and anal each with a basal sheath of about two rows of large scales, that of dorsal extending 
over half the fin or more, that of anal lower, the fins otherwise naked; dorsal fin continuous, with a 
shallow notch, spines slender and pungent, second longer than first., following ones graduated to fifth, 
which is shortest, thence increasing in length to ninth, which is longest, 2.3 in head; soft dorsal with 
its middle rays highest, 2.2 in head; anal with three slender, sharp, graduated spines, third longest, 
2.2 in head; soft part similar to soft dorsal, longest rays 2.3 in head; pectoral large, symmetrical, of 11 
rays, middle ones longest, reaching past tip of ventral nearly to the vent; ventral moderate, pointed, 
reaching halfway to vent; caudal rounded; scales large, cycloid, lateral line on second row below 
dorsal, interrupted near end of dorsal and beginning again on row below, on caudal peduncle. 
Color in life: Body chiefly green, darker green on back, lighter below; lower parts of head and 
breast light yellow; a broad white bar from eye obliquely across cheek and opercle, bordered above by 
an undulating maroon line and below by a similar but fainter line; a brown bar from eye to snout; 4 
dusky spots near base of dorsal extending as fainter shades downward and slightly forward to or 
beyond lateral line, 1 from in front of dorsal, 2 under spinous dorsal, and 1 under soft rays; short 
pale-blue bars or spots on breast and about pectoral; iris blue, a pinkish border surrounding pupil ; 
dorsal greenish, soft part with yellow shade, a pale-blue edging to whole fin, a maroon border to green 
color posteriorly just inside the pale-blue edge, a small dark spot on membrane between seventh and 
eighth rays and a blue spot on membrane of first spine; anal colored like soft dorsal, the maroon border 
extending from first spine to last ray inside the pale edging, the dark spot between sixth and seventh 
rays; ventral green near base, pale-blue outwardly, the green color bordered by maroon spots; pec- 
toral plain pale-green; caudal very pale transparent blue, a wedge-shaped maroon spot on the 2 upper 
rays near tip and a corresponding one on the 2 lower rays, base of wedge on outer ray; base of caudal 
with a pale undulate vertical bar bordered in front by a black line. In spirits, pale-green, maroon 
markings faintly persistent, becoming dusky. 
One specimen, the type (No. 49363, U. S. N. M), 1.45 inches long, taken in the seine at Ponce, 
January 30, 1899. Two other specimens were seined in the alga: on a little sandy islet near Playa de 
Ponce, but they were inadvertently lost. This is one of the most beautiful of fishes and differs from 
D. megalepis chiefly in the smaller scales and the coloration. 
Doratonotus decoris Evermaun A Marsh, Rept. U. S. F. C. 1899 (Dec. 19) , 354, Ponce, Porto Rico. 
