93. EMBIOTOCID.E HYPSURUS. 593 



933. A. argeiiteus Agassiz. Surf-fish. 



Silvery ; sides with narrow vertical bars of a brassy olive color, alter- 

 nating with vertical series of spots of similar color; fins plain; vertical 

 fins sometimes edged with dusky. Mouth comparatively large, little 

 oblique, the premaxillary being below the level of the rather small 

 eye. Body ovate, the back elevated; ventral outline straightish. 

 Head blunt and deep. Lips rather thin, the lower with a frenum. 

 Gill-rakers few, rather short, stiff; lower pharyngeals normal. Caudal 

 peduncle short and stout. Head 3; depth 2. D. X, 24; A. Ill, 26; 

 Lat. 1. 65. Vertebrae 13 + 18. L. 1 foot. Coast of California; very 

 abundant. 



(L. Agassiz, Amer. Journ. Sci. Arts, 1854, 367; Girard, U. S. Pac. E. E. Surv. Fish. 

 201: Ditrema argenteum Giinther, iv, 251: Amphistichus similis Girard, U. S. Pac. E. E. 

 Surv. Fish. 203.) 



311. HYPSURUS A. Agassiz. 



(Alex. Agassiz, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 1861, 133 (nomen nudum) : type Enibiotoca 

 caryi L. Agassiz. ) 



Body oblong, compressed, moderately elevated, tapering abruptly to 

 a very slender and short caudal peduncle. Head moderate, rather 

 acute, lower jaw included. Lips moderate, the lower with a frenum. 

 Teeth few, conical, blunt, in one series, those of the upper jaw some- 

 times partly in 2 series. Gill-rakers slender, rather short. Pharyn- 

 geals normal. Dorsal fin rather low, the spines all lower than the soft 

 rays. Caudal broad and short, widely forked. Anal fin extremely short, 

 although many rayed, beginning far back, the length of its base being 

 less than half the distance between its first spine and the root of the 

 ventrals, the abdomen being therefore extremely long. Scales rather 

 small. Vertebra 17 + 20. This genus is distinguished from Ditrema 

 chiefly by the great length of the abdominal region. Species of small 

 size and brilliant coloration. (6i/'t, high; ou/>o, tail.) 



934. II. caryi (Louis Agassiz) Alexander Agassiz. Bugara. 



Coloration extremely variegated, olivaceous, with stripes of orange 

 between the rows of scales; about 13 dusky orange cross-bars, irregular 

 in form; eyes reddish, surrounded by a sky-blue band; membranes of 

 opercles chiefly orange; opercle bluish, spotted with orange; sides of 

 head with sky-blue spots; lower jaw with orange and blue stripes; 

 breast and belly with longitudinal stripes of bright orange, alternating 

 with steel-blue; abdominal furrow orange, edged with blue; pectoral 

 with an orange crescent at base bordered with light blue; soft dorsal 

 Bull. Nat. Mus. No. 16 38 



