G28 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



(Jills oA. a small slit behind the last. Pseudobranchia 1 present. No 

 anal papilla. Dorsal lius 1 or 2, the spinous part very short, the soft 

 part elongate: anal long: caudal riot forked; pectoral tins with broad 

 oblique bases, the lower rays rapidly shortened, most of them branched, 

 ventral lins jugular, close together, I, 5, the spine very short, the inner- 

 most rays the longest. Air-bladder generally absent. Pylori c cceea 

 in moderate number. Carnivorous fishes of singular appearance, living 

 on the sea-bottoms in most warm regions. Genera 7; species about IN). 



(Ti-dfliiniil.r. nTH'.ip I'rano^ci^inni GiiiithiT, ii, 2'2~>-^'.}'2. ) 

 a. Dorsal lius -J: head without spines; no tentacle in the mouth.. ASTRO8COPU8; :'>:'.-. 



338. ASTKOSCOPUS Brevoort. 

 (A<jnun Giinther: Vpxelonpliorus Gill.) 



(Brevoort; Gill, I'nic. Arad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 160,20: type Uranosoopus anoploe Cuvier. ) 

 Mouth large, the lower jaw without retractile tentacle within. Teeth 

 narrow, in villiibrm bauds, on jaws, voiner, and palatines; teeth of jaws 

 depressible. Nostrils fringed; a curved furrow behind each eye, with 

 its edges fringed. No spines about the he'ad, the edges of the mem- 

 brane bones covered by smooth skin; surface of the bones rugose; a 

 broad plate on the occipital region, from the middle of which a Y- 

 shaped projection extends forward, the tips of the fork being between 

 the eyes: a trapezoidal spac", covered by naked skin, bounded by the 

 Yj Ihe eye. the suborbitals and the occipital plate. Head scaleless; 

 back and sides covered with close-set scales; belly mostly naked. 

 Humeral spine obsolete; no spine before the ventrals. First dorsal 

 small, of about 4 low, stout, pungent spines, connected by membrane 

 to the second dorsal, which is rather high and long; pectorals and ven- 

 trals large. American, distinguished from the Old World rnutoNcojmn 

 chielly by the unarmed head. (^7.?..-,, star; <r/:-iiu, to look.) 



976. A. > -IM:I-< tun (C. &, V.) Gill. 



Dark brown above, jialei' below; upper parts densely covered with 

 small rounded white spots, each surrounded by a black ring; lower 

 jaw and labial fringes similarly spotted: spinons dorsal black, \\hite 

 posteriorly; so!') doi-.sal \\ith L* black and L' \\hite stripes; caudal black. 

 witl^L* \\hite longitudinal stripes, its upper and lower edges nar- 

 rowly white: anal white at base and tip. with a black median band: 

 pectoral.-, brown, with a black band below, the lower edge white, the 



