Fig. 264.—Snowy Grouper, Epinephelus niveatus (Cuv. & Val.). Natural size: young. (Photograph by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt.)
Fig. 265.—Soapfish, Rypticus bistrispinus (Mitchill). Virginia.
In the soapfishes (Rypticus) the supplemental maxillary appears again, but in these forms the dorsal fin is reduced to two or three spines and there are none in the anal. Rypticus saponaceus, so called from the smooth or soapy scales, is the best known of the numerous species, which all belong to tropical America. Grammistes, with eight dorsal spines, is a related form in Polynesia, bright yellow, with numerous black stripes. Numerous species referred to the Serranidæ occur in the Eocene and Miocene rocks. Some are related to Epinephelus, others to Roccus and Lates. In the Tertiary lignite of Brazil is a species of Percichthys, Percichthys antiquus, with Properca beaumonti, which seem to be a primitive form of the bass, allied to Dicentrarchus. Prolates heberti of the Cretaceous, one of the earliest of the series, has the caudal rounded and is apparently allied to Lates, as is also the heavily armed Acanus regleysianus of the Oligocene. Smerdis minutus, a small fish from the Oligocene, is also related to Lates, which genus with Roccus and Dicentrarchus must represent the most primitive of existing members of this family. Of both Smerdis and Dicentrarchus (Labrax) numerous species are recorded, mostly from the Miocene of Europe.
Fig. 266.—Flasher, Lobotes surinamensis (Bloch). Virginia.
Fig. 267.—Catalufa, Priacanthus arenatus Cuv. & Val. Wood's Hole, Mass.
The Flashers: Lobotidæ.—The small family of Lobotidæ, flashers, or triple-tails, closely resembles the Serranidæ, but there are no teeth on vomer or palatines. The three species are robust fishes, of a large size, of a dark-green color, the front part of the head very short. They reach a length of about three feet and are good food-fishes. Lobotes surinamensis comes northward from the West Indies as far as Cape Cod. Lobotes pacificus is found about Panama. Lobotes erate, common in India, was taken by the writer at Misaki, Japan.