EDWIN CHAPIN STARKS 65 205. Hleotris carvalhonis Starks, new species.
Plate 9.
The top of the head between the eyes is but little compressed. A rather thick layer of muscle lies between the skin and the bone in this region, while in Eleotris perniger, its nearest relative, the interorbital area is much depressed and flattened, leaving the maxillary process protruding, and the skin lies directly upon the bone. The head is contained from 3 to 3% times in the body length. The eye is contained 2'4 times in the interorbital space and 2 times in the snout. The mouth is very oblique, and the maxillary scarcely reaches to below the middle of the eye. The teeth are in slightly narrower bands than in £. perniger, and scarcely so much enlarged at the side of the mandible. The gill-rakers, though only one or two more in number, are much more widely spaced.
The fins are very similar to those of E. perniger, except that all of them are more posteriorly placed in relation to the tip of the snout. The dorsal numbers VI-10, and the anal 9 or occasionally 10. The spinous dorsal is nowhere angulated in outline, and when the fin is reclined the tips of the longest spines barely touch the base of the first ray of the soft dorsal. The dorsal rays increase in length backward, and the last one is half as long as the head. The anal is more rounded posteriorly than the dorsal, the last ray not being so long as the next to the last. The ventrals reach half way or more between their base and the anal.
The scales are ctenoid on the body and cycloid on the head. ‘There are from 60 to 63 in a longitudinal series as in E. perniger, but the number from the front of the anal in a series running up and back to the dorsal is 14 or 15, while in the other species they number 17 or 18.
The color in life is dark brown, with darker longitudinal lines following the rows of scales. Sometimes the body is so dark (almost black) that the lines do not show. ‘The belly is lighter than the side, and lighter than the under parts of the head, which may sometimes be very dark. There are fine yellow and black lines across the dorsal and caudal rays, but the other fins are uniformly dusky or sometimes nearly black.
This species differs from E. perniger particularly in the fewer cross series of scales, the larger head, and the greater distance of the fins from the tip of the snout. | ‘ The specimens of Z. perniger with which these were compared came from Jamaica.
Seven specimens, from 41% to 6 inches in entire length, were collected in Lake Papary.
66 FISHES FROM BRAZIL I take pleasure in naming this species for Colonel José Joaquim de Carvalho e Araujo, whose influence and kind hospitality made our stay at Lake Papary possible.
TABLE OF MEASUREMENTS EXPRESSED IN HUNDREDTHS OF LENGTH, SHOWING COMPARISONS BETWEEN ELEOTRIS CARVALHONIS AND ELEOTRIS PERNIGER.
| SPECIES | E. perniger | E. carvalhonis Length to caudal in sab 0g PU ONIN RATA RC W248 2 IAN A LO TOT, 98 {102 93 98 Head in length...... 35 37 38 32, 32 Sil BD 32 31 30 Ul Said SH ey ARNO es 5 5 5 4 4u%| 4%] 5 4u%| § 44 Micrel carey tect ed 14%] 15 15 13 13 13 14 13 13 13 Interorbital space...| 91%4| 9 10 10 10 103%4| 10%] 9%] 10%] 10 Dorsal to snout.....| 45 47 47 41 41 42 41 42 42 41 Ventral to chin...... 36 38 36 33 32 34 34 32 33 32 No. of gill-rakers....| 7 6 tf o 8 8 8 8 8 8 206. Erotelis smaragdus (Cuvier and Valenciennes). A few specimens of this species, from 3% to 5 inches in length, were seined in a large shallow pool in the sand near the mouth of the harbor at Natal. The pool was isolated from the bay except at high tide. The species was not found in seining elsewhere, or in the rock pools. The preoperculum of this species has the hooked process as in Alexurus armiger, and it has as many unbranched accessory caudal rays (12 or 13). These being the characters upon which the genus Alexurus is based it becomes invalid, and armiger should be referred to the genus Erotelis. A few specimens of Z. smaragdus from Havana, Cuba, were examined in this connection, as well as the type and the only other known specimen of E. armiger. In the Havana specimens the preopercular spine was not so easily seen, the specimens being small, but dissecting the skin away made it very evident. The specific differences between these two are slight and of minor importnace, and they may prove to be identical, but to pass definitely upon this will necessitate more and better material than this at hand. 207. Awaous taiasica (Lichtenstein).
A single specimen was taken at Lake Papary. The following are its life colors. The ground color is yellowish, with golden and greenish reflections about the head. Irregular dusky spots are scattered over the back and
EDWIN CHAPIN STARKS 67 side of the body and head, on the latter taking the form of broken lines. The top of the head is black, and two dark lines run downward and forward from the eye. The dorsals and caudal are yellow, and dark spots on the rays form cross lines. Excepting a spot on the upper part of the pectoral base the other fins are colorless.
208. Gobionellus stomatus Starks, new species.
Plate 10.
The head is blunt with a sharply curved snout overhanging the mouth. The length is contained from 41% to 4%4 times in the length to the base of the caudal. The body tapers backward and ends in a long, pointed caudal fin. The depth varies from 5% to 6% in the length. The eyes stand slightly above the level of the head with a raised supraorbital rim, and they are narrowly separated by a bony interorbital space equal in width to that of the pupil. The diameter of the eye is contained 5 times in the head, and 114 times in the snout. The lower jaw is included, and the length of the -maxillary, as in other large-mouthed gobies, is variable. It reaches to the posterior margin of the eye in the smallest specimens, and to one diameter of the eye past in the largest ones. The teeth are in narrow bands of about 4 rows in each jaw. In the upper jaw those in the outer row are enlarged, while in the lower jaw those of the inner row are enlarged. ‘These tooth characters can best be appreciated in a dried specimen. ‘The blunt snout forms a third, or sometimes a little less, of the length of the head. The spinous dorsal is cagmposed of 6 spines, and the longest ones are as long as the head. When the fin is depressed they reach slightly past the front of the soft dorsal. There are 13 dorsal rays in the soft dorsal, which is about three-fifths of the height of the spinous dorsal; they scarcely decrease in length posteriorly. ‘There are 14 anal rays which increase in length posteriorly. The ventral reaches a trifle past the pectoral but not nearly to the anal. The length of the broadly rounded pectoral is from onehalf to one diameter of the eye less than that of the head. The caudal is long and pointed, and its length is twice that of the head. The head is naked, and the scales on the body are fine and cycloid, and increase slightly in size backward. ‘There are 58 transverse series of scales and 16 longitudinal. The color in alcohol is light gray, with about 6 rather wide cross bars of dark slate-color on the side. Their upper ends run obliquely down and forward, but most of their length is vertical. They fade away a short distance below the middle of the side. Between the wider bars is usually a narrow, less conspicuous one. Often on the back are several oblique dark lines. The head is nearly always darker than the body, and is more or less
68 FISHES FROM BRAZIL mottled with dark slate blue. ‘There is a dark spot on the pectoral base in front. The fins, except the dorsals, are dusky, the ventral being darker than the others. The dorsals are crossed by many fine, dark oblique lines. This species differs from the other gobies of this genus with lanceolate caudal fins in having cycloid scales.
Numerous specimens were taken with the seine in a large pool in the sand left by the high tide near the mouth of the harbor at Natal. A few were seined on the muddy mangrove tide flats, but none were found in the rock pools. ‘They are from 4 to 5 inches in entire length. 209. Mapo soporator (Cuvier and Valenciennes).
This commonest of all tropical American gobies was found in abundance in the rock pools at Natal and Ceara.
210. Ctenogobius boleosoma (Jordan and Gilbert).
Several specimens were taken in the rock pools at Natal, thus materially increasing the range of this species. It has been taken hitherto only at Pensacola, Florida. ‘They have been compared with the cotypes. 211. Ctenogobius glaucofrenum (Gill).
Three specimens of this goby were taken in the rock pools at Natal. Up to this time the species has been known only from the West Indies. They had no blue spots on the body or blue markings across the cheek such as was described for the type, or by Dr. Eigenmann for specimens from the Tortugas.
The following color notes were taken from living specimens. ‘The ground color of the head and body is translucent flesh-color. Two rows of rusty red spots extend along the side at regular intervals, and another along the base of the dorsal fins. There are two black spots at the base of the caudal fin, which are more or less run together in a dumbel-shaped spot. A dark brown wavy band extends back from the snout through the eye to above the pectoral base, and a narrower one below it and parallel with it, from the snout across the cheek to the base of the pectoral. The caudal is pinkish, and the other fins are colorless, except the pectoral which is slightly yellow at the base.
212. Microgobius omostigma Starks, new species.
Plate il:
The head is contained from 3% to 3%4 times in the length to the caudal base, the depth from 4 to 4% times, and it is twice that of the width. A fleshy ridge runs forward from the dorsal fin and ends at the occiput. The
EDWIN CHAPIN STARKS 69 eye is longer than the snout, contained 31% times in the head, and is two-fifths longer than the interorbital space. The mouth is very oblique. The maxillary reaches to under the middle of the eye, and is half of the length of the head. ‘The teeth are in very narrow bands, with the outer ones enlarged and curved. The length of the dorsal spines is extremely variable, the longest spines reaching in one specimen nearly to the posterior end of the soft dorsal ; in another to opposite the middle of the soft dorsal, and in another only a little past its front. The fin formula is, dorsal VII-18; anal 17. The pectoral is wide and broadly rounded, and its tip reaches a little past the front of the soft dorsal. The ventral scarcely reaches to the anal. The caudal terminates in a rather narrow point, much sharper than shown in the picture of Muicrogobius meeki. Its length is equal to the base of the anal, and is contained 24% times in the length of the body. The scales number from 45 to 48 and are finely ctenoid. The head and body anterior to the front of the spinous dorsal are naked.
The head and body are uniform dusky bluish, very slightly lighter below. The color consists of rather coarse dots. Just behind the head and above the pectoral is a rounded black spot encircled with a dark bar around its upper part, leaving a light ring between. ‘The fins are uniform bluish, with the ventral sometimes very dark, and the soft dorsal, anal, ventral, and caudal with a narrow white margin.
Three specimens were collected, from 14 to 1% inches in length, in the rock pools at Natal. This species is related to Microgobius eulepis Eigenmann and Eigenmann and Microgobius meeki Evermann and Marsh. It differs from the former in having ctenoid scales, a compressed form, and in color. From the latter it differs in having a much smaller mouth, and a longer, more pointed caudal.
FAMILY ECHENEIDID.
213. Remora remora (Linnzus).
A specimen taken at Natal.
Famity MALACANTHID.
214. Malacanthus plumieri (Bloch).
One large specimen, 18 inches in length, was collected at Natal. The interorbital space is twice as wide as the eye, which is contained 7 times in the head. In a specimen from Cuba, 9 inches long, the eye is contained 1% times in the interorbital space, or 54 times in the head.
70 FISHES FROM BRAZIL Famity DACTYLOSCOPIDA.
215. Dactyloscopus crossotus Starks, new species.
Plate)12) The head is conical, with the strongly projecting symphysis of the lower jaw forming its point. The length of the head (without the mandible) is contained 414 times in the entire length to the base of the caudal, and the depth of the body from 6% to 7 times. The mouth is moderately oblique, or on an angle of about 45 degrees; the maxillary reaches to opposite the posterior margin of the eye. The teeth are slender and inclined backward. They are in two rows on each jaw, and are a trifle larger on the lower jaw than on the upper. The eye is longer than the snout, twice as wide as the entire interorbital space, and is contained 7 times in the length of the head. There are from 9 to 12 opercular fringes.
The dorsal spines run imperceptibly into the rays, so that a microscope is necessary to distinguish them from each other. There are 12 spines and 29 articulated, unbranched rays. The anterior 4 spines are detached, the membrane of one spine scarcely reaching the base of the next; the fifth is slightly attached to the sixth, which in turn is broadly attached to the seventh as in the succeeding ones. The anal has 2 spines and 31 rays. Its origin is considerably behind the tips of the opercular fringes, which reach over the base of the pectoral, while in Dactyloscopus trigiditatus its origin is opposite the tips of the fringes.
There are from 40 to 44 transverse series of scales and 9 longitudinal series, counting at the tip of the pectoral. The head and breast are naked. The lateral line runs high anteriorly, there being only a scale and a half between the pore-bearing series and the dorsal. There are 12 scales in the anterior part of the lateral line, 3 in the descending portion, and 31 in the portion behind.
In life the body and head were translucent pink or flesh-color. In alcohol the color is white and very slightly dusky, with dark points above. The beginning of about 10 light cross bars are indicated on the back, but do not descend to the side. The fins are without color.
This species is not closely related to any other known form, but is probably closest to Dactyloscopus tridigitatus Gill, differing in having fewer opercular filaments, a much larger eye, a heavier, more protruding mandible, and the anal more posteriorly placed. It is more slender than any of the others.
EDWIN CHAPIN STARKS 71 A few specimens were taken in the sandy tide pools at Natal in company with Dactyloscopus tridigitatus. The type and largest specimen is just two inches in entire length.
216. Dactyloscopus tridigitatus Gill.
A few specimens of this form were taken in sandy tide pools on the open beach at Natal. It has not before been recorded south of the West Indies. In life they are of a transparent flesh-color. When frightened they bury themselves in the sand.
FAMILY BATRACHOIDID&.
217. Batrachoides surinamensis (Bloch and Schneider).
This species was rather common in the market at Para. Comparing a specimen about 10 inches in length with one of similar size of Batrachoides pacifict (Giinther), the eye is smaller, being contained 11 times in the length of the head, while it is contained 9 times in B. pacific’; the fin rays are less deeply incised; the cross bars on the body are much more conspicuous; the teeth are finer; the pairs of spines on the opercle and preopercle are closer together, and the interruption in the lateral lines is much greater. The alleged difference in the number of dorsal rays cannot be relied upon to separate these species, as B. surinamensis may have as few as 26, which is the usual number in the other.
I am now able for the first time to compare this species directly with B. boulengeri Gilbert and Starks. A specimen 14 inches in length, or an inch longer than the type of B. boulengeri, has a slightly sharper mandible projecting a little more. The eye is little if any smaller; the dorsal membrane is not so deeply incised; the interruption in the lateral lines occurs a little farther from the base of the caudal; the last dorsal and anal rays do not project so far past the caudal base, and the scales are a little smaller. Imbedded scales occur in front of the ventrals where the breast is entirely naked in the other species. Perhaps the greatest difference lies in the entire absence of the interradial canals and pores on the inner surface of the pectoral, which is such a characteristic feature in B. boulengeri. The teeth on the outer end of the vomer are in two irregular rows for a short distance in the large specimens, but in the small ones they are in a single row as in the other species. . The teeth do not otherwise differ. The cross bars are more definite, and the interspaces and the head are not so much freckled with small spots. In life this species is light reddish brown, growing lighter below to nearly white on the belly. Dark brown, irregular cross bars are on the body.
~I bo FISHES FROM BRAZIL A narrow one is across the top of the head just behind the eyes; two wider ones are between it and the spinous dorsal; one is under the spinous dorsal ; two under the soft dorsal, and one at the base of the caudal fin. 218. Thalassophryne branneri Starks, new species.
Plate 13.
The head is as long as it is wide, and its length without the projecting mandible is contained 24% times in the entire length to the base of the caudal. The mouth is not so nearly vertical as shown in Gunther’s picture of the type of Thalassophryne maculatus, being on an angle of about 45 degrees. The maxillary reaches back to opposite the posterior margin of the orbit. Short, blunt teeth are in a single row on the vomer, palatines, and sides of the jaws. On the front of the lower jaw they are in two rows, and on the front of the upper jaw a second row is less evident, being represented by a few teeth irregularly placed. ‘The eye-ball is contained 10 times in the length of the head; 2 times in the entire interorbital space, and is equal to the bony part of the interorbital space. The width of the iris is not over half of that of the eye-ball. The top of the gill opening is a trifle below the base of the top pectoral ray and extends to a trifle below the lowest one. The spine on the opercle is about twice as long as the dorsal spines, and is equal to a third of the length of the head.
The base of the first dorsal spine is a very little anterior to the point of the opercular spine, and its distance from the tip of the snout is contained 3 times in the length. The dorsal has 20 rays and the anal 19. The longest rays are toward the posterior end, and the fourth from the last one is almost half as long as the head. ‘The last dorsal and anal rays reach past the caudal base a distance contained 6 times in the head. ‘They are scarcely, or barely, joined to the base of the caudal; not so much so as in Thalassophryne reticulata Giinther. ‘The caudal fin is rounded and forms a sixth of the entire length. ‘The pectoral reaches to opposite the base of the sixth anal ray, and is contained 1% times in the head.
The color is dark slaty brown above, growing lighter downward to milk white on the ventral side. ‘There is a faint suggestion of the beginning of blended cross bars on the back; one on the caudal peduncle, two under the soft dorsal, and one under the spinous dorsal. The skin surrounding the dorsal spines is darker than elsewhere on the body. The fins are slatecolor, growing darker toward the outer ends of the rays; the ventral and anal are white at the base, and all of the fins but the spinous dorsal are conspicuously margined with white.