PROCEEDINGS OF THE ■ i ■ ■■-CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ■■'35 Vol. 43, No. 19, pp. 301-315, 12 figs., 1 table. December 11, 1984 REVISION OF EASTERN PACIFIC CATALUFAS (PISCES: PRIACANTHIDAE) WITH DESCRIPTION OF A NEW GENUS AND DISCUSSION OF THE FOSSIL RECORD By John E. Fitch Research Associate, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California 94118 and Stephen J. Crooke California Department offish and Game, Long Beach, California 90802 Abstract: Four species of catalufas inhabit eastern Pacific waters: Cookeolus boops (Schneider, 1801), Heteropriacanthus cnientatus (Lacepede, 1801), Pseudopriacanthus serrula (Gilbert, 1891), and Priacanthus alalaua Jordan and Evermann, 1904. Each of these species is illustrated, and diagnostic characters, meristic data, morphometric measurements, maximum size, geographic range, depth distribution and other informa-tion also are presented. Heteropriacanthus is a new generic name for Priacanthus cnientatus, a cosmopolitan species that differs in numerous salient features from the species assignable to Priacanthus (i.e., alalaua, arenatus, hamrur, macracanthus, meeki and tayenus). An identification key is presented. Otoliths (sagittae) and scales of the four eastern Pacific species also are illustrated. The only reported priacanthid fossils are from the Eocene of Europe. Of the six species, Pristigenys substriata is known from skeletal remains and is unquestionably a priacanthid. Only two of the five species described from otoliths, Pristigenys bella and P. dentifer, appear to be priacanthids, but there is no assurance they can be assigned to Pristigenys, since none of the skeletal "imprints" of P. substriata contained otoliths, nor do all of the otoliths assigned to these two species appear to be correctly identified. Introduction partment of Fish and Game (DFG) biologists, For years, fishermen aboard long-range sport-skippers and crew members of these vessels com-fishing boats that operated out of San Diego menced fishing for and saving miscellaneous sought only such large game species as yellowfin small fishes caught at the Revillagigedo Islands, and bigeye tuna ( Thunnus albacares and T. obe-Alijos Rocks, and other fishing spots off southern sus), wahoo {Acanthocybium solanderi), yellow-Baja California. tail (Seriola lalandi), giant sea bass {Stereolepis Among the first of these incidentally caught gigas) and several kinds of large serranids {Epi-species turned over to DFG personnel were a nephelus spp. and Mycteroperca spp.). During half-dozen catalufas that appeared to represent 1978, however, at the urging of California De-three species of Priacanthus. A literature search [301]
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