396 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Labrus fasciatua Walbaum, Artedi, Piscium, 1792, 265 (after Brunaich, p. 98). 
Labrits apalatensis BlocTi & Schneider, Syst. Icth., 1801, 256 (after Briiunich). 
Solocentrus triacanthus Lac6pede, Hist. Nat. Poiss., IV, 376, 1803. 
Rolocentrus signonotus De la Roche, “Ann. Mus., XIII, 352, pi. 22, fig. 8, 1809.” 
Habitat . — Mediterranean Sea. 
Etymology.— HniXzo'; (from finap, liver), a name used by Aristotle to designate some 
sort of fish, probably the haddock. 
This little fish is abundant in the Mediterranean and adjacent waters. Our speci- 
mens are from Palermo and Venice. 
The relationships of this species seem to be with the American species of ‘‘PWo- 
nodes.^’ Dr. Giiuther refers all these species to Gentropristis. They agree with the 
latter genus in the short soft dorsal and in the moderate size of the canines. The 
skull is, however, notably different from that of C. striatus, and similar to that of 
Serranus scriba. 
Genus XXII.— DIPLEOTRUM. 
Diplectrum Holbrook, Ichthyology of South Carolina, Ed. 1, 32, 1856 {fasciGularis=formosus). 
Haliperca Gill, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1862, 236 {bivittatus = radialis) and other species. Restricted 
to bivittatus by Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 535). 
Type. — Serranus faseicularis Ouv. & Yal. — Perea formosa Linnmus. 
Etymology. — Ais, two; TtXTjHtpov.^ spur. 
This genus is very close to Serranus, from which it differs chiefly in the armature 
of the preopercle. This character is little marked in young examples, which agree 
essentially with Prionodes in generic characters. 
Five species are now known, two of them with many synonyms. 
ANALYSIS OF SPECIES OF DIPLECTRUM. 
a. Preopercle with two clusters of divergent spines, the one at the angle, the other higher (the two 
fascicles well separated in the adult, but smaller and coalescent in the young) {Diplec- 
trum). 
b. Head and body marked with many interrupted blue lines; body elongate, the profile strongly 
arched above eyes ; mouth large, lower jaw slightly projecting ; maxillary narrow, reach- 
ing middle of eye, 2| in head ; canine teeth small ; eye placed high, shorter than snout, 
about 5 in head ; preorbital broad, more than twice the width of maxillary ; upper part of 
margin of preopercle finely serrate ; lower half with strong, straight spines diverging from 
two centers ; gill-rakers short and small, x+9 ; top of head and preorbital region naked ; 
smooth area on top of cranium very convex; eleven rows of scales on cheeks; fins, except 
caudal, scaleless; dorsal spines low and slender, the first three graduated, the rest sub 
equal ; caudal deeply lunate, the upper lobe the longer, sometimes ending in a long fila- 
ment ; anal spines very weak, the third longest, G in eye. Pectoral, If in head. Color 
brownish, silvery below ; sides with seven or eight longitudinal deep-hlue lines and about as 
many dark cross-bars, the last bar forming a large black blotch at upper base of caudal ; 
young with two broad, dusky longitudinal stripes, which become interrupted with age ; 
three or four distinct blue stripes on sides of top of head ; two across preorbital, the 
lower forked; fins with narrow, wavy bars of blue and pale yellow. Head, 3 in length; 
depth, 3f . D. X, 12 ; A. Ill, 7. Scales, 9-68-18 Foemosum, 78. 
aa. Preopercle with a single center of divergence of the spinules about its angle (in the adult as well 
as in the young) {Haliperca Gill). 
b. Spines on produced portion of preopercle numerous, 8 to 20 in number ; outline of the spinous dor- 
sal fin somewhat convex, so that the fin is more deeply notched than in D. formoaum ; jaws 
equal; vertex naked; opercle black within. 
