310 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
being somewhat shorter, the remaining three progressively longer; soft dorsal higher, its longest ray 
about 1.7 in head; longest anal ray 1.7; pectoral broad, 1.25 in head, reaching anal; ventral barely 
reaching origin of anal; a pair of slender ocular cirri, a small supraocular one, a short, slender, nasal 
cirrus and a few very slender ones at nape; scales large, not crowded anteriorly; lateral line well arched 
above pectoral. 
Color in alcohol: Brown, much spotted and vermieulated with darker; top of head brown, side 
and under parts pale; side of body with about 6 or 7 broad, dark crossbars, broader than the paler 
interspaces, broadest and darkest above, and extending upon dorsal fin; under parts of body paler, 
more speckled; spinous dorsal with numerous small brown specks, a large black ocellus on base of 3 
anterior spines, and a larger one on base of last 4 dorsal spines, being chiefly on body; soft dorsal, 
caudal, and anal each crossed by several series of small brown spots; pectoral and ventrals pale, 
pectoral with a few brown spots at base. 
The above description from the type, a female, 2.5 inches long, No. 49371, U. S. N. M., obtained 
at Hucares, February 14. Three female cotypes, gotten at Fajardo, February 17, and one at. Culebra, 
February 9, agree closely with the type; 2 of these, however, show faint traces of narrow horizontal 
lines along lower part of side. 
Fig. 98 . — Malacoctenus puertoricensis. 
A male, 2.5 inches long, from Culebra, February 11, taken as one of the cotypes, may be described 
as follows: Head 3.5; depth 3.7; eye 3.8; snout 3.2; maxillary 3.1; mandible 2.4; interorbital 7; 
preorbital 6.2; scales 3-45-9; D. xx, 10; A. ir, 19; P. 14; V. 2; C. 13; longest dorsal spine 2 in head, 
longest ray 1.4; longest anal ray 1.5; pectoral 1; ventral 1.1; caudal 1.1. Color in alcohol: Tolerably 
uniform brown; crossbars on side very faint; longitudinal lines more evident than in female; throat 
and under parts of head mottled with white and light-brown; fins less speckled than in female, soft 
dorsal and anal pale, almost without spots. 
Another male, 2.25 inches long, from Culebra, February 11, agrees with the large specimen just 
described, except that the crossbars on body are more distinct. 
This species most closely resembles M. bimaculatus Steindachner, from which it differs in the 
larger head, greater depth, smaller mouth, narrower interorbital, and in the color. The tips of anal 
rays are not white, soft dorsal is spotted like caudal and anal, and there are no white spots on base of 
pectoral, as is said to be the case in M. bimaculatus. 
Malacoctenus puertoricensis Evermann & Marsh, Report U. S. F. C. 1899 (Dec. 19), 358, Hucares, Porto Rico. 
263. Malacoctenus delalandi (Cuvier & Valenciennes) . 
Head 3.4; depth 4; eye 3.5; snout 3.3; maxillary 3.3; mandible 2.6; interorbital 7; preorbital 
6.2; scales 4-53-10; D. xx, 10; A. ii, 19; longest dorsal spine 2.2; longest ray 1.6; longest anal ray 1.8; 
pectoral 1.1; ventral 1.2; caudal lobes 1.4. Bod 3 T compressed, heavy forward; head short, snout short, 
decurved; mouth rather large, maxillary scarcely reaching eye; gill-membranes free and broadly united 
across isthmus; teeth in a single series in each jaw; a few teeth on vomer, none on palatines; eye large, 
