THE FISHES OF PORTO RICO. 
289 
242. Dormitator maculatus (Bloch). Masaguan; Mapiro. 
(Plate 45.) 
Head 3.5; depth 3.5; eye 5.75; snout 4.5; maxillary 3; mandible 3.2; interorbital 2; preorbital 6.5; 
scales 33,-12; D. vm-9; A. i, 9; longest dorsal spine 1.9; longest dorsal ray 1.1; longest anal ray 1.2; 
pectoral 1.2; ventral 1.25; caudal 1. Body short and stout, heavy forward; head broad, flat above, 
interorbital space wide; caudal peduncle long, rather compressed, length 1.4 in head; profile gently and 
regularly arched from tip of snout to origin of dorsal, from which point body tapers to caudal peduncle. 
Mouth small, considerably oblique, upper lip on level with pupil; maxillary reaching vertical at front 
of orbit; lower jaw scarcely projecting; teeth on jaws short and weak, in viliiform patches; no teeth 
on vomer. Fins all large; interspace between dorsals very narrow, less than orbit; soft dorsal and anal, 
when depressed, reaching beyond base of caudal, which is rounded. Scales large, smaller on head 
and belly, about 15 series from base of ventral to vent, 14 series across breast between bases of pectorals, 
and about 25 from tip of snout to origin of dorsal fin; origin of dorsal fin midway between tip of snout 
and posterior base of soft dorsal. 
Color in life: Pale-greenish on head and back, lower sides and belly pale-bluish; sides of head 
and back mottled with darker; a narrow dark line from eye downward and forward to mouth, and 2 
or 3 similar but broader bands from eye to posterior edge of opercle, these bands more or less broken; 
dorsal fins brownish, barred with narrower white bands, each with a narrow brick-red edge; anal 
banded with light brick-red and narrower white interspaces; edge of fin pale, with a subterminal dark 
bar; caudal, ventral, and pectoral pale; iris brick-red. In alcohol this fish becomes quite dark, almost 
black, the bright colors changing completely. 
This description is from numerous specimens 6 to 8 inches long, but the species reaches a length 
of 1 to 2 feet and is a valued and important food-fish. It is found on both coasts of tropical America, 
ranging from South Carolina through the West Indies to Para, and from Cape San Lucas to Panama; 
usually abundant. On the coast of Florida it has been taken at Hillsboro River, Indian River Inlet, 
and on the Pensacola Snapper Banks. No adults were seen by us in Porto Rico, but we collected one 
young specimen at Mayaguez, and on February 15 we obtained 85 near Hucares from a small, shallow 
lagoon bordered with mangrove bushes, filled with decayed vegetation, and with the water strongly 
colored. These specimens varied in length from 3 to 8 inches. 
Scisena maculata Bloch, Syst. Iehth.,pl.299, fig. 2, 1790, West Indies. 
Eleotris mugiloides Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XII, 226, 1837, Martinique and Surinam. 
Eleotris sima Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XII, 232, 1837, Vera Cruz. 
Eleotris latifrons Richardson, Voy. Sulphur, Fishes, 57, pi. 35, figs. 4 and 5,1837, locality unknown, probably Pacific coast 
of Central America. 
? Eleotris grandisquama Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., XII, 229, 1837, America. 
Eleotris somnolentus Girard, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1858, 169, near mouth of Rio Grande, Texas. 
Eleotris omocyaneus Poey , Memorias, II, 269, Havana. 
Dormitator micruphthalmus Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1863, 170, Panama. 
Dormitator gundlachi Poey, Synopsis, 396, 1868, Cuba. 
Dormitator lineatus Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1863, 271, Savannah, Georgia. 
Dormitator mugiloides, Poey, Fauna Puerto-Riquena, 339, 1881; Stahl, 1. c., 79 and 165, 1883. 
Dormitator maculatus, Jordan & Evermann, 1. c., 2196, 1898. 
Genus 135. GHAVINA Bleeker. Morons. 
This genus is allied to Eleotris, differing in having the post-temporal bones little divergent, not 
inserted close together, distance between their insertions greater than the moderate interorbital space, 
or 3.8 in length of head; top of skull little gibbous; lower pharyngeals narrower than in Eleotris; 
preopercle without spine; scales very small, ctenoid, about 110 in a longitudinal series. Vertebrae 
11 -f- 13; teeth moderate, the outer series on lower jaw enlarged. 
Inhabitants of the fresh waters of the West Indies and Brazil. Two species known — Guctvina 
brasiliensis (Sauvage), from Bahia, and the following. 
243. Guavina guavina (Cuvier & Valenciennes). “ Moron 
Head 3.5; depth 4.5; eye 6.5; snout 4; maxillary 2.25 to 2.5; mandible 2.5; interorbital 3 to 3.25; 
preorbital 7.2; scales about 100,-38; D. vri-12, the longest spine 2.5 to 3 in head, the longest soft 
ray about 2; A. i, 10, longest ray about 2 in head; pectoral 1.5; caudal 1.25 to 1.5. Body stoutish, 
oblong, heavy forward; head heavy, broad; mouth oblique, large, maxillaries reaching middle of 
F. C. B. 1900—19 
