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BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
of this character and his figures do not show it, and it is not shown in the figures pub- 
lished by Dr. Steindachner. Dr. Steindachner, however, states that while most of 
his specimens have the anal rounded, a number from Eio Janeiro and Messina have 
its outline angulated. Possibly two varieties or species both with many gill-rakers 
are confounded under the name ruhra. This seems doubtful, however, as the agree- 
ment in other respects is very close among all the specimens examined by us and those 
figured by authors. 
We retain for this species the early but inappropriate name of ruher, as we have 
little doubt that the original Epinephelus ruber was the young of this species. 
This typical specimen — inches (m. 165) long is still preserved in the University 
of Berlin. It has been redescribed by Professor Peters, and his account shows an 
almost complete agreement with the young of acutirostris in all respects except the 
coloration. The coloration is now wholly pale or bleached, a fact which led Bloch to 
suppose that it had been red. 
At my request. Dr. F. Hilgeudorf, of the University of Berlin, has again examined 
the species. He sends a drawing of the head, which shows a full agreement in form 
of mouth and nostrils with M. acutirostris. He adds the following notes (translated) : 
The gill-rakers are indeed naineroas. I count 24 on the ceratobrauchial o£ the first arch. The 
longest of these measures 
The points in which raher differs from acutirostris (compared with a larger example — 12581, m. 283 
long, from Athens) are the following: The pale coloration which is hardly to be explained by bleach- 
ing, as the dark-brown pigment suffers little, nor is it to be accounted for by difference in age. The 
caudal is in r«&er apparently strongly rounded, and the pectorals as well as ventrals are longer in 
riiher. The ventrals reach at least to the vent. The point of the pectoral is 78™“ from the snout, 
86™™ from the end of the caudal (as 7 to 8). In acutirostris these numbers are respectively 123™™ and 
160 ™™ (as 3 to 4). This difference may be expressed by saying that in acutirostris (or in old ex- 
amples?) the hinder parts of the body are more stretched. The streaks on the sides shown in Bloch’s 
figure are merely the boundaries of the groups of muscles. 
The difference in the form of the caudal above noticed may, we know, be due to 
age, as in specimens of 6 inches it is very rarely lunate. The difference in form is not 
unlikely also a matter of age. The pale color of the type of Epinephelus ruber may 
be due to exposure of the type to sunlight. A few weeks of such exposure will 
destroy all pigment cells. As the specimen has now been more than a century in 
alcohol, such an exposure may have some time taken place. 
Genus XII.— DERMATOLEPIS.* 
Dermatolepis Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 54, 1861 (punctatus). 
Lioperca Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 237, 1862 (inermis). 
Type . — Dermatolepis punctatus Gill. 
Etymology . — skinj AsttjV, scale. 
This well-marked genus is allied to Epinephelus, but shows some positive affinities 
with Rypticus. Two species are known, both fully described in the paper of Jordan 
& Swain. To these we venture to add a third, known only from a rather insufficient 
description given by Dr. Steindachner. 
* Closely allied to Dermatolepis is the genus Cromileptes Swainson (— Serraniohthys Bleeker), based 
on Serranus altivelis Cuv. & Val. The latter genus has but ten dorsal spines; the anterior profile is 
concave and the dorsal fin extremely high. 
