338 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
first and second dorsal spines subequal, the third sm allest ; dorsals slightly connected ; 
ventrals very small, not half longer than eye; pectorals rounded; gill-rakers very 
small and short, about eight developed ; color dusky brown, fins marked with black- J 
ish and usually with a narrow pale edge; sides generally with irregular pale spots; i 
back and head usually immaculate. Head 3^ in length; depth ‘31. D. 111,25, 
A. 16 Saponaceus, 5. 
gg. [Body comparatively slender, the depth less than length of head. Color dark-brown, 
the head, throat, anal, dorsal, caudal, and base of pectoral thickly covered with 
small oblong or roundish dusky spots; these sometimes few and scattered or wholly 
wanting; vertical fins dark, narrowly edged with paler. Head 3^ in length with ! 
caudal ; depth 4J; eyeS^inhead. D. Ill, 23 to 25, A. 16.] (/S/emdacft/ier) - Arenatus, 6. 
ee. Opercular spines two, small, the uppermost the smaller (the lowermost being obsolete); 
dorsal fins separated ; body moderately elongate, the back elevated, the head low, 
slender, and pointed, the anterior profile almost straight; lower jaw much project- | 
ing; eye small, smaller than in B. saponaceus, 5 to 5^ in head ; about equal to the | 
short snout ; maxillary reaching posterior edge of eye, 2f in head, preopercular : : 
spines short, bluntish, close together, the uppermost the smaller; first dorsal spine ; 
longest, the two fins well separated ; ventrals moderate, nearly twice as long as I 
eye; gill-rakers small and short; color (in our specimen) nearly plain brown, the i 
edges of the scales darker with dark points ; sides with some faint paler spots ; 
edges of vertical fins dusky; head 3J; depth 3^. D. Ill, 25, A. 15 Coeiaceus, 7. | 
cc. [Dorsal spines four; spines not described, probably as in B. arenatus; color brown; body | 
and base of dorsal covered with round, jet-black spots, each surrounded by a clear 
ring; these spots lie in five longitudinal rows, those of the middle row much larger 
than the others; a sixth row on base of dorsal and 2 or 3 spots on base of anal; 
fins dusky, without paler margin ; head 3^- in length (with caudal), depth 4^, D. IV, 
22 or 23, A. about 12.] ( Steindaulmer.) Nigromaculatus, 8. 
1. RYPTICUS BISTRISPINUS. 
Soap-fish. 
Bodianus bistrispinus Mitchill, Am. Monthly Magazine and Grit. Review, 247, Feb., 1818 (Straits of 
Bahama). 
Bhyptious bistrispinus Jordan, Cat. Fishes of N. A., 86, 1885. 
Bhypticus maculatus Holbrook, Ichth. S. Car., Ed. 1, 1856, 39, and Ed. 2, 1860, 42 (Cape Remain, South 
Carolina); Giinther, I, 173, 1859 (copied); Jordan and Gilbert, Syn. Fishes of N. A., 543, 
1883; Jordan, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., p. 35, 1884 (Pensacola.) 
Bhypticus pituitosus Goode & Bean, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1879, 341 (Key West); Jordan and Gilbert, 
Syn. Pishes of N. A., 543, 1883. 
Bhypticus bistrispinosus Jordan, Proc., U. S. Nat. Mus., 1884, p. 149 (Key West); Jordan, op. (At., 546, 
(Newport); Jordan, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1886, 581 (lapsus calami for bistrispinus). 
Promicropterus decoratus Cope, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci., Phila., 118, 1870 (Newport, R. I.) (not of Gill). 
Bhypticus decoratus Jordan & Gilbert, Syn. Fishes of N. A., 543, 1883 (copied). 
Habitat . — South Atlantic coast of United States. 
Etymology. — Bistrispinus^ twice three spines. 
Our specimens of this species are from Pensacola. 
All the two spined soap-tishes which we have seen from the Atlantic seem to be- 
long to a single species, for which the oldest specific name is the long-neglected one 
of bistrispinus Mitchill. It is not uncommon in rather deep water off our South At- 
lantic coast. 
