THE FISHES OF PORTO RICO. 
247 
soft dorsal, the black membrane continued to tip; the anterior soft dorsal rays are much less produced 
in the young and the body is deeper than in the adult. 
Color in spirits: Pearly-gray, with dark vertical bands; one from occiput through eye to lower 
margin of cheek; a second from front of dorsal to belly behind base of ventrals, extending slightly 
upon opercle; a third from under spinous dorsal downward, tapering out below middle of side; a fourth 
from last dorsal spines to front of anal; a fifth from middle of base of dorsal to near end of base of anal ; 
sixth and last at base of caudal, faint; these bands plainest in young, almost or quite disappearing in 
old individuals; ventrals black. 
The spade-fish ranges from Cape Cod to Rio Janeiro. It is occasionally taken at New York and 
a few have been caught in traps at Menemsha Bight near Woods Hole in August and September. It 
is not uncommon about the mouth of the Chesapeake and increases in abundance southward to Key 
West and Pensacola, at which latter place it is called “spade-fish,” while at Key West, along the east 
coast of Florida, and on the Carolina coast it is known as the “ angel-fish,” a name which, according 
to Sehoepf, appears to have been current for over a century at Beaufort, N. C., where it is also called 
“porgee” or “porgy,” names which are also in use for this species among the New York fishermen. 
In the West Indies it is known from Cuba, Santo Domingo, Jamaica, Martinique, and Porto Pico. We 
obtained specimens from San Juan, Mayaguez, Puerto Real, Arroyo, and Isabel Segunda, and it is 
doubtless common everywhere about the island in suitable places. It has also been recorded from 
the coasts of Guatemala and Texas. It has been erroneously reported from the Pacific coast of 
America, particularly from San Diego, Cal., the Pacific coast species ( Chsctodiplerus zonatus) being an 
entirely different fish. 
Mr. Silas Stearns studied the habits of the spade-fish on the coasts of west Florida, Alabama, 
and Louisiana, where it is common. He says it is found throughout the summer and fall in the bays, 
about wharves, rock piles, and old wrecks, where crustaceans are abundant. In October and 
November large schools are seen along the sea-beaches, evidently leaving the coast for warmer water, 
at which time many are caught in haul seines. In that region they probably spawn in early summer, 
and the young are seen until October. 
The spade-fish reaches a length of 2 or 3 feet and a weight of 20 pounds, although the average 
size of those caught is much less. Mr. Stearns gives 15 inches as the largest he has seen, and the 
average at not more than 8 inches. Much larger ones were examined by us at Key West and at Fort 
Pierce and Eden, on Indian River. The largest seen in Porto Rico was about 14 inches long. Very 
large examples, which have been described as Epkippus gigas , but which are evidently adults of 
unusual size of this species, have the occipital crest and anterior interhsemals developed into large, 
thick, bony masses, which are quite remarkable in appearance. 
The spade-fish has in the last twenty-five or thirty years come to be one of the most highly prized 
food-fishes, and is held in very high esteem by connoisseurs in Washington and New York, in the 
markets of which cities it is most abundant during the summer months. 
Chsetodon faber Broussonet, Ichth. Deeas., 1, V, pi. 4, 1782, Jamaica; Carolina; Society Islands. 
Faber marinus fere quadratus (the Pilot-fish) Sloane, Nat. Hist. Jamaica, II, 290, pi. 251, 1793, Jamaica. 
Zeus quadratus Gmelin, Syst. Nat., I, 1225, 1788, Jamaica; after Sloane. 
Chsetodon plumieri Bloch, Ichth.; pi. 211, 1793, Martinique; after Plumier. 
Selene quadrangularis Lacdp&de, Hist. Nat. Poiss., IV, 564, 1803, Jamaica; after Sloane. 
Chsetodon oviformis Mitchill, Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc., I, 1815, 247, pi. 5, tig. 4, New York. 
Epliippus gigas Cuvier, Regno Animal, ed. 2, II, 191, 1829, America; Stahl, 1. e., 163, 1883. 
Epkippus faber, Poey, Fauna Puerto-Riquena, 330, 1881; Stahl, 1. c., 77 and 163, 1883. 
Chsetodipterus faber, Jordan & Evermann, 1. c., 1668, 1898. 
Family UV. CH^TODONTIDtE. The Butterfly-fishes. 
Body strongly compressed, elevated, suborbicular in outline, covered with moderate-sized oi 
small scales, which are finely ciliated or nearly smooth; lateral line present, concurrent with back, not 
extending on caudal fin; mouth small, protractile, terminal; maxillary very short, irregular in form, 
divided into two by a longitudinal suture; upper part of skull solid, occipital crest strong; post-temporal 
firmly joined to skull, its form really trifurcate though appearing simple, interspaces between forks 
filled in by bone so that only a foramen is left; last bone of suborbital ring firmly joined to preoperculum; 
teeth brush-like or setiform, often extremely long, in narrow bands in jaws; no teeth on vomer or 
palatines; no canines, molars, or incisors; eyes lateral, of moderate size; branchiostegals 6 or 7; 
