254 
BULLETIN OE THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
or purplish; no blue lines on breast or head; no crossbars; dorsal crossed by alternating lines of rich 
blue and light brown, the edge broadly light blue; caudal blue, a subterminal brown border, then a 
border of rich blue; anal like dorsal; ventral rich blue; pectoral lighter blue; young with blue shades 
less evident. A specimen, 3.25 inches long, had sides olivaceous-blue, rich blue on belly; side with 
many narrow pale-blue, almost white, cross-lines; dorsal, ventral, anal, breast, and chin rich sky-blue; 
lips whitish; caudal olivaceous, bordered all round by blue; spine pale-yellowish. 
The blue tang is generally common from the Bermudas and southern Florida to Brazil. It has 
been recorded from the Tortugas, Key West, Cuba, and Jamaica. It is common about Porto Rico, 
numerous specimens having been obtained at Aguadilla, Arroyo, and Culebra, but it is apparently less 
abundant than either T. hepatus or T. bakianus. It ordinarily does not reach a greater length than 8 
or 10 inches, and is usually found in the algae in water of but a few feet in depth. The larger individuals 
are found in deeper water about or near the coral reefs. 
Turdus rhomboidalis, Catesby, Nat. Hist. Carolina, etc., 1742. 
Acanthurus cseruleus Bloch & Schneider, Syst. Ichth., 214, 1801, Carolina, Havana, and Jamaica; based on Catesby 
Parra, and Browne. 
Acanthurus broussonctii Desmarest, Prem. D6c. Ichth., 26, 1823, Cuba. 
Acanthurus brevis Poey, Memorias, II, 207, 1860, Havana. 
Acronurus cseruleatus Poey, Enumeratio, 69, 1875, Cuba; young. 
Teuthis cseruleus, Jordan & Evermann, 1. c., 1691, 1898. 
212 . Teuthis hepatus Linnaeus. “Medico”; “Barbero” ; Tang; Doctor-fish; Lancetfisli. 
Head 3.5; depth 2; eye 3.5; snout 1.6; interorbital 3.3; preorbital 1.8; D. ix, 24 to 26; A. in, 22 
to 24; pectoral 1.2; ventral 1.4; caudal 1.1; scales numerous. Body ovate, back greatly elevated, 
anterior profile very steep and moderately convex; caudal lunate, lobes about equal. 
Color in life: Dark olive-brown, sides with about 12 black vertical bars narrower than inter- 
spaces, plainer in young; a brownish stripe along hase of dorsal; spinous dorsal with alternate stripes 
running upward and backward, of dark-blue and bronze-olive, the two colors of about equal width; 
soft dorsal with a bluish streak on anterior side of each ray, and a bronze stripe behind it; fins dark, 
often almost black. A young example, taken at San Juan, was olivaceous, with narrow vertical blue 
bars; spine pale, surrounded by rich blue; branchiostegals, breast, and belly pale-blue; anal bluish, 
especially anteriorly, its border deep blue; ventrals blue; caudal brownish, peduncle yellowish; eye 
blue and yellow; two or three small postocular orange spots. The vertical bars usually persist in 
spirits, but other markings fade. In the young the caudal is nearly truncate and without the pale 
edge of the ocean tang. 
This species is the most abundant of the tangs, and is found from the Carolinas and southern 
Florida south to Brazil. It lias been recorded from the Tortugas, Key West, Charleston, Havana, 
. arnaiea, Martinique, and Bahia. About Porto Rico it is the most common of the tangs and was seen by 
us at nearly every place where collecting was done, particularly at San Juan, Mayaguez, Puerto Real, 
Ensenada del Boqueron, Guanica, Hucares, and Culebra. It reaches a foot in length, though the 
specimens obtained do not exceed 6 or 7 inches. It is of considerable importance as a food-fish. 
Teuthis hepatus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. XII, 507, 1766, Carolina; after Hepatus mucrone reflexo, Gronow; Jordan & 
Evermann, l.c., 1691, 1898. 
Chxtodon chirurgus Bloch, Ausl. Fisch., 99, pi. 208, No. 24, 1784, Martinique; on a drawing by I'lumier. 
Acanthurus phlebotomus Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., X, 176, 1835, Martinique, Brazil, Havana, and New 
York; Poey, Bepertorio, I, 256, 1867, and Poey, Synopsis, 245, fig. 7, 1868. 
Acronurus fuscus Gronow, Cat. Fishes, ed. Gray, 119, 1854, Carolina; same type as T. hepatus Linnaeus. 
Acronurus carneus Poey, Memorias, II, 207, 1860, Cuba; young. 
213 . Teuthis bahianus (Castelnau) . “Medico”; Barbero; Ocean Tcmg. 
Head 3.5; depth 2 to 2.4; eye 3 to 4.3; snout 1.75; interorbital 3.4; preorbital 1.67; D. ix, 25; A. 
hi, 23. Body ovate, anterior profile moderately convex, making an angle of about 45° with axis of 
body; ventral outline less arched; caudal fin deeply lunate, upper lobe much the longer, slender and 
Often produced into a filament in adult, inner rays about half length of outer ones, which are longer 
than head. 
Color in life: Dark bluish-brown, blotched with paler below; no transverse bars; brown, wavy, 
longitudinal brassy streaks on body; 8 dark lines on dorsal fin running parallel with its edge for its 
