274 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
The dorsal spine is thickly beset with different-sized spinules in definite series; on each edge of 
a shallow groove on the posterior surface of the spine there is a series of stout retrorse curved spinules ; 
on front of spine are similar spinules arranged alternately in two series; on each lateral surface of 
spine, between the anterior and posterior rows of spinules, is an irregular row of much smaller, more 
numerous sharp spinules having a tendency to turn upward; other minute spinules, irregularly 
disposed with small bare spaces between, roughen the sides of spine. 
Distance from spine to soft dorsal is .85 distance to end of snout. The soft dorsal originates 
further back than the anal, and its first ray is nearer base of caudal than it is to end of snout. Pectoral 
rounded, veiy short, less than diameter of eye, its origin under pupil. Ventral spine absent. Caudal 
rather short, its length less than that of head; posterior margin evenly rounded when spread. 
Caudal peduncle slender, its width 1.5 times diameter of eye. Skin velvety to the touch. 
Color dull bluish-gray above, becoming yellowish-white on sides and whitish below. Entire 
body and head covered by well-defined dull-blackish marks of various 'shapes, some beiug annular, 
some vermiculate, and some rounded, elongated, or curved blotches; these are, for the most part, 
larger than the eye. Dorsal and anal fins pale yellow, pectoral fins colorless. Dorsal spine blackish, 
with a white filamentous tip; the membrane connected with spine iilumbeous. Caudal bluish-gray, 
with four black crossbars; posterior margin of fin whitish. Iris dark. 
The species bears no striking resemblance to any other flleflsh recorded from 
American tvaters. Besides the characteristic markings, it presents morphological 
features which enable one to readily identify it. From the common long-tailed flleflsh 
(A. schoeiijii of Walbaum) found along the entire Atlantic coast of the United States 
south of Cape Cod, it may be easily distinguished by its less elongated form, shorter 
caudal peduncle and fln, more prominent abdomen, more obtuse and thicker snout, 
fewer dorsal and anal rays (36 and 38, respectively, in schoepjii), etc. It differs in 
about the same particulars from the “long mingo” (A. jnmctata Agassiz), which 
ranges from the AVest Indies to Brazil, replacing A. sclioepjii iu those waters; and it 
may be separated from Catesby’s “unicorn flsh of the Bahamas” and Pai’ra’s “lija 
trompa” of Cuba (now identifled with Osbeck’s Balistes scripta from Asia) by its 
abdominal iirotuberance, shorter body and head, less pointed snout, much smaller 
dorsal spine, and shorter tail. 
The specimen from the British Museum was collected at Manado, in the northern 
part of the island of Celebes. Its total length is 145 mm., the same as the Woods 
Hole specimen, and its general resemblance to the latter is close, but the Asiatic 
specimen has a more convex superior profile of head, a much less marked ventral con- 
vexity aud dorsal depression, and stronger spinules on the dorsal spine. The colors 
are much faded, but the traces of markings which remain suggest the same pattern of 
coloration shown in the Massachusetts flsh. 
In 1757 Osbeck (in Eeise nach China) described a flleflsh from Asiatic waters 
under the name Balistes monoceros, which name was reproduced in the tenth edition 
of Linmvus’ Systema Natura (1758). The synonymy of the flsh has been quite varied; 
under different names it has been recorded from Asiatic and African waters* by 
Gronow, Gmelin, Walbaum, Freminville, Lesson, Temminck & Schlegel, Bleeker, 
Ilollard, aud others. 
Becently Jordan & Evermanu have put this flsh in the genus Ahitera and have 
given it a place in the American fauna on the assumption that a flsh recorded from 
*Th6 known range of this species in the Eastern Hemisphere is from the northern coast of Asia 
to the middle of the east coast of Africa. It is recorded from .Tapan, China, Malaysia, India, and 
Zanzibar, and is perhaps most common in the East Indian archipelago. 
