336 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
//. Dorsal fins separate : spiues of fins weak ; anal rays III, 12, the spines graduated ; 
lower jaw projecting; base of tongue with teeth Roccus, 31. 
ee. Preopercle with about 3 autrorse spines on its lower limb; dorsals separate; spines 
slender; anal rays III, 11, the spiues graduated; lower jaw slightly projecting. 
Dicentrarchus, 32. 
Subfamily VI.-PEROIOHTHYIN^:. 
(SerranidcB approaching the Percidw. having the general form of the true Perch 
(Perea)-, the dorsal tins separated ; the maxillary with a large supplemental bone, and 
the teeth subequal without canines; vertehrm in increased number (about 36); lower 
jaw, preorbital, suborbital and preopercle extensively cavernous ; fresh water fishes 
of Oliili.) 
a. Palatine teeth present; preorbital retrorse-serrate ; snout bluntish iu profile; top of head scaly as 
far forward as anterior nostril; teeth villiform or cardifonu ; end of supra-clavicle projecting 
backward, coarsely sei rate; lateral line little curved, concurrent with the back; pseudobrauchiaj 
small; dorsal and anal naked; opercle with spiues; preoi»ercle serrate, the serras on lower 
limb autrorse ; scales moderate, little ctenoid ; supraocoipital crest rather long and low ; top of 
cranium anteriorly as far as eyes perfectly smooth, without ridges, and very convex iu sec- 
tion ; iuterorbital area with a groove between the orbital ridges Percichthys, 33. 
aa. Palatine teeth obsolete ; teeth iu jaws subcylindrical, blunt; opercular spine obsolete; preopercle 
with a few minute serrm ; snout bluntish; scales large, rough; forehead naked; lateral line 
bent under second dorsal Percilia, 34. 
Geuus 1.— PYPTIOUS. 
Rypticus Cuvier, Rhgne Animal, ed. II, m29 (aaponaceus). 
Smecticus Valenciennes, Voyage de la Venus, 1855, 305 (bicolor). 
Rhypticus Giinther, I, 171, 1859 (corrected orthography). 
Promicropterus Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1861, 53 (macidatua). 
Eleutheractis Cope, Trans. Am. Phil. Soc., 1870, 467 (conaceus). 
Tvpe: Anthias saponacetis, Bloch and Schueider. 
Etymology. — puKv.x'k, washing, from the “soapy” skin. 
The species of this geuus are all A.merican, representing iu our fauna the geuus 
Grammistes of the coasts of Asia, The two genera agree iu many particulars, differ- 
ing chiefly in the fin formula, Grammistes having D. VII-I, 13, A. 0, 8, while Rypti- 
CMS has D. 11 to IV, 21 to 26, A. 0, 14 to 17. 
One of the species of Rypticus (bicolor) has been detached from the others to form 
a distinct genus, Smecticus, said to be characterized by a different number of flu-rays. 
(D. X, 21, A. II, 15.) Judging from the figure which Valeiicieuues has given of 
his Smecticus bicolor the species is a genuine Rypticus. Apparently some of the rudi- 
mentary or “stub” rays of the dorsal and aual have been taken for spines and enu- 
merated accordingly. Another species has been taken to form still another genus, 
Eleutheractis, because the anterior dorsal is wholly separated from the other, not joined 
by a low membrane as usual iu the geuus. This character has but slight value, its 
presence depending to some extent on the condition of preservation of the specimen. 
Promicropterus, based on the species with two dorsal spines, may be regarded as a 
valid subgenus, but as no other character of importance goes with this one the value 
of the distinction is not great. 
