THE FISHES OF PORTO RICO. 
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dorsal; pectoral rather long, reaching past tips of ventrals, rays about 1.4 in head; ventrals about 1.7 
in head; caudal fin usually lunate, lobes pointed and projecting, especially in adult; in the young the 
fin is sometimes merely truncate, never rounded as in S. rubripinne. 
Color of adult in life: Olivaceous, clouded with light and dark, and usually flushed with pinkish, 
especially below, edges of the scales more yellow-olive; scales of belly and lower parts light orange- 
red toward their bases, giving a decidedly reddish cast; dorsal mottled with different shades of olive; 
caudal creamy, mottled and barred with darker orange, markings more distinct on outer edge; ventrals 
and anal rich cherry-red, mottled and barred with brown; pectoral light orange-red, color formed by 
narrow orange cross-streaks on a paler ground; a light band across lower jaw, which is otherwise 
brown; a dusky or black blotch at base of pectoral; blackish blotches sometimes present on body at 
base of soft dorsal. In alcohol, the red and yellow fade and become pale and the general color is 
brownish, paler below; usually a dark blotch at base of soft dorsal and one on base of pectoral. 
S. flavescens is close to S. rubripinne, from which it can be distinguished most readily by the 
difference in shape of caudal fin and its lighter coloration. In S. rubripinne the caudal is more or less 
rounded, while in S. flavescens it is lunate or truncate, tips of lobes always being pointed. 
The range of this species extends from Biscayne Bay and Key West southward to Rio Janeiro. 
It is generally common, and is known from Cape Florida, Key West, Havana, Bahamas, Tortugas, St. 
Thomas, Jeremie, Haiti, Port au Prince, Jamaica, Porto Rico, St. Lucia, and Rio Janeiro. It is 
abundant in Porto Rico. The collection contains specimens from the following localities: San Juan, 
Mayaguez, Puerto Real, Guanica, Ponce, Ensenada del Boqueron, Iducares, Fajardo, Isabel Segunda, 
and Culebra Island. It rarely exceeds a foot in length. It is very abundant at Key West, 
swarming everywhere about the island in the eelgrass. At Havana it is apparently equally common, 
the numbers seen in the market exceeding that of all other species of the genus combined. Its flesh, 
although not unpleasant in flavor, is soft and rather poor. In the Havana market it is usually called 
Vieja Colorado, but the species of this group are seldom distinguished by the fishermen. 
Vieja, Parra, Descr. Piezas Dif. Hist. Nat., 59, pi. 28, fig. 4, 1787, Cuba. 
Scar us flavescens Bloch & Schneider, Syst. Ic.hth., 290, 1801, Cuba; after Parra. 
Scants squalidus Poey, Memorias, II, 218. 1860, Cuba, 
Sparisoma flavescens , Jordan & Evermann, 1. c., 1610, 1898. 
198. Sparisoma rubripinne (Cuvier & Valenciennes). Vieja; Loro; Parrot-fish . 
Head 3.3; depth 2.9; eye 5.5; snout 2.5; interorbital 3.7; preorbital 4; D. ix, 10; A. ii, 9; scales 
1-25-5. Body stout, compressed; head large, somewhat rugose in the adult; mouth small, gape not 
reaching vertical of eye by a distance equal to half of its diameter; lower jaw projecting; no canines; 
suborbital with venules; pores of lateral line with 3 or 4 branches; 4 scales in front of dorsal. Fins 
moderate; dorsal spines pungent, longest about equal to snout; dorsal rays a little longer, about equal to 
those of anal; pectoral long, 1.3 in head; ventral shorter, about 1.9 in head; caudal truncate in adult, 
usually rounded in young, never lunate as in S. flavescens, outer rays about equal to snout and eye. 
Color in life (a specimen 9 inches long) : Head and side dirty mottled-brown; 3 brown bars on 
lower jaw; fins all mottled-brown and yellowish; belly white. Another specimen, 4 inches long, from 
San Juan, had the sides bluish-olivaceous; edges of scales darkest; white on belly; side of head with 
2 irregular brownish bars; tip of lower jaw brownish, followed by a white stripe, then a broad brown 
bar followed by white; dorsal pale, mottled with brown, especially near base; caudal crossed by 
alternating bars of brown and paler; irregular brown blotches at base of caudal; anal rosy, blotched 
with brown; pectoral pale; ventrals pale-rosy, inner rays white; jaws white. Another specimen, 4 
inches long, from Aguadilla, was described as grayish, paler below; chin with 2 broad brown bands; 
4 black blotches on back, first on and at base of first dorsal spine, second on base of sixth and seventh 
rays, third on about eleventh and twelfth rays, and fourth on last ray but one, all these extending 
somewhat on sides; iris green, rest of eye silvery and brownish; dorsal and anal fins mottled reddish- 
brown; caudal brown, with 2 or 3 irregular cross-series of pale spots; ventrals reddish; pectoral pale. 
In alcohol, general color grayish-brown, paler below; head brown; chin with 2 or 3 broad brown bands 
separated by white ones; base of pectoral dark; a dark blotch on body at edge of opercle; 4 rather 
distinct dark blotches on back extending upon dorsal fin, which is mottled with dark and light; caudal 
dark, with 2 irregular cross-rows of white spots, more or less confluent in anterior row; extreme tip 
of tail with a pale border; anal barred and mottled like dorsal; pectoral and ventral pale; jaws pale. 
F. C. B. 1900—16 
