93. EMBIOTOCID.E AMPHISTICHUS. 591 



not very high, the spines slender. Scales small, GO-75 in the course of 

 the lateral line. Species 5, differing considerably in form and appearance, 

 but agreeing in essential characters, (a/^t, double; a^o?, series.) 



* Lower lip without freuum ; gill-rakers numerous, long. 



a. Profile depressed or concave over the eyes; mouth very oblique, the lower 



jaw projecting ; eye very large. 

 I. Anal fin short, its rays about III, 23. (Hypocritichthys* Gill.) 



9S9. A. a BBJI IDS (A. Agassiz,) Jor. & Gilb. 



Silvery ; an inky blotch on the middle of the anal fin and a fainter 

 blotch on the spinous dorsal ; front of anal yellow ; fins otherwise plain. 

 Axil black. Body comparatively elongate, formed much as in Micro- 

 metrus frenatus ; upper anterior profile nearly straight, depressed above 

 the eyes. Snout sharp. Mouth large, very oblique, the tip of the lower 

 jaw on a line with the upper profile of the snout ; maxillary reach- 

 ing front of orbit. Dorsal spines high and slender, longer than the 

 soft rays, the middle longest. Anal spines small. Caudal fin short, 

 not widely forked ; pectorals short and broad, four-fifths the length of 

 head. Eye, five fourths the length of snout. Head 3i ; depth 2. D. 

 IX, 22 ;' A. Ill, 23 ; Lat. 1. 63. L. G inches. San Francisco to Point 

 Concepcion ; rather rare ; locally abundant at Santa Cruz. 



(Hyperprosopon analis Alex. Agassiz, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 1861, 133: Hi/pocrit- 

 ichthys analis Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1862, 276: Ditrema anale Giiuther, iv, 250.) 



b. Anal fin long, its rays about III, 33. ( Hyperprosopon t Gibbous.) 

 c. Ventral fins posteriorly black. 



93O. A. arcuatllS (Gibbous) J. & G. Wall-eyed Perch; White Perch. 



Bluish black above; sides bright silvery, sometimes faintly barred; 

 ventrals with a broad terminal bar of black; caudal and anal -edged 

 with blackish. Body ovate, strongly compressed. Interorbital space 

 rather wide, abruptly depressed at the nape, the profile of the snout 

 extending forward at a less angle than that of the back. Snout very 

 short, much shorter than the eye. Maxillary scarcely reaching front 

 of pupil. Mouth extremely oblique. Eye 2 in head, larger than in 

 any other species. Middle dorsal spines a little higher than the last, 

 or than the soft rays; anal low. Head 3; depth 2^. D. IX, 27; A. 



*Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1862, 276: type Hyperprosopon analis A. Ag. 

 (viroKpiToS, deceiver; Ixffoo, fish; its appearance (Micrometrus) belying its affinities 

 (Nolconotus). 



t Gibbons, Daily Placer Times and Transcript, May 18, and in Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 Phila. 1854, 105: type Hyperprosopon aryenteus Gibbons. (vTtrjp, above; it poQ OOTT or, 

 face. ) 



