284 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Genus 131. PERISTEDION Lacepede. 
Barbels large, forming large fringed tufts at angles of mouth and on lower jaw. Dorsal fins 2; 
characters otherwise included above. 
Of the ten or a dozen known species of this genus only four occur in American waters. The first of 
these (P. miniatum Goode) is known only from the type locality, which is in the Gulf Stream off Rhode 
Island; the second ( P . longispatlmm Goode & Bean) is known from Blake station lviii, off Havana, 
in 242 fathoms (type locality), Blake stations lxii and lxiii, each off Barbados and each in 209 
fathoms, and from the following Albatross stations in the Gulf of Mexico: 2397 in 280 fathoms; 2376 
in 324 fathoms, and 2358 in 222 fathoms; the third ( P. platycephamvi Goode & Bean ) is known only from 
2 specimens, the type from Blake station lx, off Barbados, in 123 fathoms, and one other from Blake 
station lix, off Barbados, in 288 fathoms; and the fourth species (P. gracile Goode & Bean) is also 
known from but two specimens, the type collected by the Albatross at station 2401 in the Gulf of Mexico 
in 142 fathoms, and the single specimen obtained by us in Porto Rico. A fifth species (P. Iruncatum 
Gunther) was dredged by the Challenger at station 122, off Pernambuco, Brazil, in 30 or 350 fathoms, 
or in some intermediate depth; and a single specimen of a species in the closely related genus Vulsiculus 
Jordan & Evermann ( 1 '. imberbis Poey ) was obtained by Poey from the stomach of a barbudo ( Polymixia 
lowei Gunther) taken near Havana in deep water. 
The other species of Perisledion are known from the Mediterranean, Amboina, Japan, Molucca, 
etc. It will be noticed that all are deep-water species and that but little is known about any of them. 
a. Body rather robust, depth 4.5 to 5 in length to base of caudal; head about 2.5 in length; barbels long. 
b. Length of preorbital extension about 3.5 in snout; color uniform crimson miniatum 
bb. Length of preorbital extension 2 in snout; color red, with a black blotch near tip of pectoral and black on caudal. 
longispatlmm 
aa. Body slender, depth 0 to 6.5 in length to base of caudal; head 3 to 3.5; barbels moderate; fins mottled or blotched. 
c. Body very slender; preorbital process 2.25 in snout; color yellowish; a pearly lateral band; back dotted; fins 
mottled gracile, 239 
cc. Body much depressed; preorbital process 3 in snout; color red, mottled and blotched platycephalum 
239. Peristedion gracile Goode & Bean. Deep-water Gurnard. 
(Plate 44.) 
Head (measured from base of rostral prolongation to tip of opercular spine) 3; depth 6.5; width 
of head 6; eye 4; snout (without spine) 2.1; rostral prolongation or spine 3.6; D. vn-19; A. i, 19; 
branchiostegals 8; interorbital space deeply concave, 1.2 in eye. Body slender, heavy forward; profile 
from tip of snout to eyes straight or slightly concave; orbital ridges strong, high; rostral spine con- 
tinued backward on each side in a sharp, thin ridge, ending in a blunt spine on lower part of opercle, 
a similar ridge diverging from it at angle of mouth and ending in a similar spine lower down; width 
between bases of rostral spines 1.5 in eye; opercular spine small, length of opercle and its spine scarcely 
equal to eye; jaws feeble and toothless; lower jaw with an irregular group of fringed barbels on each 
side, longest about twice length of eye; gillrakers 26 on first arch, the longest 2 in eye. Spinous dorsal 
originating above opercular spine, second spine longest, 2.5 in head, or equaling length of rostral spine; 
longest dorsal rays 1.5 in rostral spine; origin of anal under that of soft dorsal; longest anal ray equal 
to those of dorsal; base of anal more than 5 times as long as interorbital width; caudal somewhat 
forked, the lobes rounded; pectoral long, the lower rays detached, length of fin 1.6 in head; ventral 1.75 
in head; bony plates of body strong, spines sharp, their surfaces rough, the number of spines in each 
series, beginning with the uppermost, about 26, 32, 26, and 27. 
Color in life; Whitish, with pale-rosy wash, strongest on top of head and anterior part of body; 
side of head and body with faint greenish blotches; similar yellowish blotches in same region; tip of 
lower jaw red; dorsal fin pale with a broad rosy bar on membrane about at middle of height in spinous 
dorsal, somewhat narrower and higher up in soft dorsal; caudal pale at base, outer third rosy-red; anal 
pale; ventral pale; pectoral pale, crossed by about 5 series of rosy-red spots. 
So rapidly do such fishes as this change color when brought up from considerable depths that we 
can never be sure that the colors they exhibit when we first behold them are really those which they 
possess in the depths which they inhabit; in fact we may be quite sure the colors are not the same, 
but whether the colors are more or less intense is difficult to determine. The specimen here described 
had a rather faded appearance when first seen, and very soon became still paler, arid it is perhaps a 
safe inference that the natural color, particularly the red and green, was more pronounced. 
