Notes on a collection of fishes from east Florida, obtained by Dr. J. A. Henshall

fromtheneigliboring islands, as they agreedwell with the descriptions given of tbem,and there wereno available specimensto comparewith.

As

soon asI

had

finishedthe examinationof thebirds ofeach island collected

by

Mr.Ober, theywere placed in a

box by

themselves,

and

not distnrbedagain except foranoccasionalcomparison.

The

collection from Gnadelonpe, containingspecimensof the trne

M.

JierminieH, Lafr.,

was

not received until

more

than a year after that from Dominica.

These specimens I labelled

M.

hermitiieri, Lafr., as amatterof course, they being from the localityof the type.

The

difference between the birds from the

two

islands

was

notobserved at that time, as no com- l^arison

was

made.

This winter, having occasion to review the species of Margarops, I got thespecimens from the different islands togetherforthefirsttime,

and

atonce

saw

that the speciesfromDominica

was

quite distinct from- theGuadeloupebird. It differsfrom31.herminieri,Lafr.,inbeinglessin length, ofamore robust form, thebillstouter,

and

thetailshorter; the

brown

coloringthroughoutis

much

darker

and

ofaruddyc'ast,instead of olivaceous^; thecentresofthefeathersonthe throat

and

upperpart ofthe breastare

much more

rufous,

and

haveblack spotsat theirends; theab-

domen

isparewhite,whereasin

M.

herminierithelower part of the breast

and

the

abdomen

arecovered with lanceolate-shaped markings,whichare verystriking, each feather beingwhite, witha strongly defined bro\vn border; only avery small space on the lower part of the

abdomen

is

white;

M.

herminierihas thewhiteends oftheundertail-covertsedged narrowlywith pale

brown

; in the

new

species theyare white without borders,

and

it has the tarsi

and

toes stronger

and

paler in color than, those of

M.

herminieri.

FEBPaiAKY

1, 1880.

NOTES

©rv

A

COff^liEt'TffOIV

©F FISHES FROM EAST

FIi©Ui;i5A,.O-B- TAIi^JS©

BY

1>U.jr.A,HErVSHAl.t,.

By DAVID

S.

JOKDAIV, M. ».

During

the past winter (1878-79) acollection of fishes

was made

for thewriter

by

Dr. J. A. Ilenshall,ofCynthiana, Ky.,inthe streams

and

inlets of Eastern Florida.

The number

of species obtained

was

not large, but the specimens were preserved in excellent condition,

and among them

are severalof interest.

Two

^species [Gerresplumieri•^wd

Umhrina hroussoneti)

had

not been previously recordedfromthe coast ofthe United States. Three others were, atthetime ofcollection,

new

to science.

One

of these has been lately described,under the

name

of JordaneUa _floridw,

by

Messrs.

Goode and

Bean.

The

othershave been already noticed

by me

inthesei^roceedings as Zygonectes rubrifrons

and

Zygonecieshenshalli.

Proc. Nat. Mus. 80 2

Apa^ii 26, 18 80.

18 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

The

marine species were obtained from Indian Eiver

and

fromthe neighboring coast; tlie cyprinodonts, centrarchids,

and

other fresh or brackish water species chiefly from

San

Sebastian Eiver

and

tribu-

DIODONTID^.

1. Chilomycterusgeometricus ^(Schueid.)Kaup.

URANOSCOPID/E.

2. Astroscopiis y-graecum^(C.

&

V.)Gill.

A

^{single fine specimen of this beantifiil species. Dr. Henshallin-}

forms

me

that this specimenⁱⁿlife exhibited strongelectricalpowers, thesepowers apparentlyhavingtheirseat inthe

naked

skin onthetop of the head. Sofaras Iknow,such

phenomena

havenot hithertobeen ascribed toany fishof this family. I therefore put this statement on record, inhopes thatsubsequentobservers ofthisrarefish

may

beable to verifyit.

ECHENEIDID^E.

3. EcheneisnaucratesL.

A

^singlespecimen, with 22 laminsBin the disk.

CARANGID^.

•4. Selene argenteaLac.

Numerous

finelargespecimens. Specimenslatelydescribedfromthe Pacificcoastnnder the

name

of Argyriosuspacijicus,Lockiugtou,appear tobelongtothis species.

5. Caraiiguschrysus^{(Mitch.)Girard.}

6. Chloroscombruschrysurus(Linn.)Gill.

7. Oligoplites occidentalis(L.)Gill.

Severalfluespecimensofthishighlyinteresting species.

The

character offive(insteadofseven)dorsal spines,

assumed

to distinguishOligoplites

from Scomhroides Lac. {Chorinemus C.

&

V.), isperhaps^of insutflcient valueforgeneric distinction.

Some

of thespecies ofScomhroides have, however, thedermalproductionsreallyscale-like,instead oftheirregular linear

imbedded

ridgesfoundin Oligoplites. This character

may

^forthe present, untilallthe speciesof thegroup areexamined, be heldto dis- tinguishthe lattergenus.

SCIiENID^.

8. Umbrinabroussoneti Cuv.

&

Val.

Two

finespecimens of this

West

Indianspecies wereobtainedb^' Dr.

Henshall. Thesearethefirstyetrecordedfromthe United States.

The

speciesisnot included in Goode's Catalogue of

Bermudan

Fishes, nor

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 19

ill

any

of Poey's lists of tlie fishes of Cuba. It is, therefore, an im- portant additionto ourfauna. This specimen agrees very fully with Giinther's description of Umhrina hroussoneti, and with Cuvier

and

Valenciennes'sdescription of Umbrinacoroides. C.

&

^V.'s description of U. hroussoneti gives the

number

of rays in the dorsal fin as X.I, 25.

My

specimenshave D. X. I, 28.

GEERIDJ^.

9. Gerres plumieriCiiv.

&

Val.

A

^singlefinespecimenofthisbeautiful species. Ithas notbeen j)re-

viouslyrecorded fromthe coastsoftheUnited States.

SPARID^E.

10. Lagodonrhomboides (L.)Holbr.

PPJSTIPOMATID^.

11. Lutjanuscaxis(Schneider)Poey.

A

^singlefinespecimen.

CENTRARCIIID^.

12. Micropteruspallidus(Raf.; Gill

&

Jordan.

Dr.

L^on

Vaillant (Mission Scientifiqne an Mexique: ined.) divides this species provisionally into two, adopting the

name

^{'^}^licropterus salmoides^^ for the ordinary form,

and

that of Micropterus nuecensis (Baird

&

Girard) for the southwesternform (Texas

and

Mexico). Ac- cordingto

him

thetwo are externally identical, but 21. nuecensis is dis- tinguished

by

thepresence of a smallpatch of teethon the tongue, the tongue beingentirely smooth inthe ordinary form.

Ihave examined a

number

of specimensin regardto this point.

I find lingual teeth inthe followingspecimens

(1.)

Two

specimens, onelargeone small, from the Falls of the Ohio.

(2.)

One

small specimen from a tributary of

White

Eiver at Bloom- ington, Ind.

(3.)

One

specimen (in the

museum

atParis) from Texas.

I,find

them

absentin the following

(1.) Severalspecimens in HenshalFs collectionfromIndian Eiver.

(2.) Specimen from

Xeuse

River.

(3.) Specimens from

White

Eiver at Indianapolis.

(4.) Specimens from

Lake

Erie.

The

presence of these teeth evidently does not depend on age,

and

apparently not onsex. It

may

beaspecificfeature,but I

am

^inclined

atpresent tothinkitonly afeatureofindividualvariation. I have not seensuchteeth inthe small-mouthedblackbass.

20 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

13. Chaenobryttusviridis(C. &.V.)Jor.

14. Lepomispallidus (Mitch.) Gill &,Jor.

The

recent rejection ofthe

name

^'''pallidus''^ for thisspecies

by my

friend Professor

Goode

(Proc. U. ^S.Nat. Mus.1879, 139) is due to his having overlooked the factthat Mitchellhas aLahruspallidus aswell as aBodianuspallidiisinhis

Memoir

on theFishes of

New

^York.

The

latter, as Professor

Goode

observes, is Bairdiella argyroleuca; the former isLepomispallidus.

15. Lepomispuiictatus(Ciiv.

&

V;il.)Jor.

{LepomisapiaiuaCope.) Severalfine specimens.

16. Enneacanthusobesiis (Baird)Gill.

(Bryttus fasciatusIlolbrook

=

BryttusohesusBaird?).

^^Enneacantlms milnerianus Coi^e" is includedinGoode's list(Proc.

II. S.Nat. Mus.,11, 1879, 114) ofthefishes ofFlorida. Thisspecies ap- pearsin

my

listof valid species of Centrarchidfe in Bulletin

X

of the National

Museum.

Itis anominalspecies,

and came

^into the lists in this

way: While

vaj i)^per in Bulletin

X was

^passing through the press,Professor

Cope

kindly sent

me

theproof-sheets of apaperonthe fishes of the Saint John's, which has sinceappearedin the Proc.

Am.

Philos. Soc. In this i^ajier a

new

species with the above

name was

described. This species, however. Professor

Cope saw

^{fit to suppress}

inthe publication of the paper, hehaving identified it with Enneacan- thus fasciatus.

MUGILID^.

17. MugilbrasiliensisAgassiz. WhiteMullet.

Our

other

common

species of Mugil, the striped mullet, Mugil plumieri

and

Mugil lineatus of authors, is doubtless the species for

which the

name

of Mugilalhula L. shouklberetained.

SCOMBERESOCIDiE.

18. HemirhamphusunifasciatusEauz.

CYPHINODONTID^.

19. JordanellafloridaeGoode

&

Bean.

Many

specimens of this interesting species were obtained

by

Dr.

Ilenshall.

The

femalesdifferfrom themaleschiefly in the lowerverti- calfins.

20. Zygonectesrubrifrons Jordan.

Numerous

specimens.

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 21

21. Zygonecteshenshalli Jordan.

Still

more

abinulaut. Thisspecies

and

the precedingarevery ^closely related,

and

areboth nearly intermediatebetween Zygonectes

and

Fundu- Im.

The

cnrreut generarelated toFmululusare separated

by

characters of very dnbions valne.

22. Fundulussp.

A

smallspecimenwitlipale cross-bars; notsuitable foridentification.

23. GambusiapatruelisB.

&

^G.

Two

specimens, agreeing with thedescriptionsof Gamhusia Jiolhroold of Girard

and

Giinther,

and

withGirard's figure ofGambusia patruelis.

The two

^species areprobably identical.

The

^{black bars} onthe caudal

and

the obliquesuborbitalblotch are characteristiccolor-marks.

CATOSTOMID^.

24. Erimyzon^goodeiJordan.

Many

specimens.

SILUPJD^.

25. AmiuniserebennusJordan.

Many

small specimens.

ANGUILLID^.

26. Anguillarostrata(LeSueur)DeK.

A

^comparison of these Florida specimens with aseries of eelsfrom Venice renders it evident that our

American

eelisnot identicalwith Anguillavulgarisof Europe,as Iwith others havesupposed.

Inourspecies the beginning of the dorsal isnotably

more

posterior thaninthe

European

one. In Venetian specimens the distance from the snout to the base of the dorsal is contained 3| timesinthe total length ofthe fish. In Floridaspecimens the

same

distanceis contained barely 3 timesin thetotallength.

The same

difference is expressed differently but correctly

by

^Dr.

Giinther (Cat. Fish Brit. Mus., VIII, 24).

He

ascribes toA.vulgaris the characterof

—

"The

length of the

head

isnearly equalto the distancebetweenthe

commencements

of thedorsal

and

analfins."

And

toA. bostoniensis{rostrata)

—

"The

length of the

head

is conspicuously

more

thanthe distance ^be- tweenthe

commencements

of the dorsal

and

analfins."

The band

of vomerine teeth also appears to extendfarther

back

in A. vulgaristhanin A.rostrata.