58 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



science is already indebted for some of the rarest ichthyological and careino- 

 logical productions of the Pacific coast. 



VI. A few months have scarcely elapsed sincere stated that no representa- 

 tives of the sub-order of apod malacopterian fishes had so far been observed 

 along the Pacific coast, west of the United States. We are now in possession 

 from that coast of a fine species, which, according to Kaup's classification, be- 

 longs to the family Opkisuridce, and more properly still to the subfamily Myro- 

 phincB. Its generical affinities are with Myrus, from which it, however, differs 

 by the dentition and the condition of the dorsal fin. The genus to which it 

 belongs may be characterized as follows : Pectoral fins present. Origin of 

 dorsal fin situated near the occiput, in advance of the base of the pectorals. 

 Head large, subcorneal, lower jaw shorter than the upper. Teeth granular, 

 disposed upon elongated patches, on the jaws, palate and nasal bones Eyes 

 well developed. Gill apertures lateral, of moderate development, and placed 

 vertically in advance of the pectoral fins. Body scaleless. A specimen from 

 Adair Bay, Oregon, measures about two feet in total length. Its body is sub- 

 cylindrical, somewhat compressed, and tapering gradually backwards. The 

 origin of the dorsal fin takes place near the occipital region, upon a vertical 

 line somewhat nearer the base of the pectorals than the posterior rim of the 

 eye. The beginning of the anal fin is nearer the extremity of the snout than 

 the tip of the tail. The pectoral fins are subelliptical in their outline, broader 

 than long. The head, from the apex of the rostrum to the branchial 

 aperture, measures about two inches, or else the twelfth part of the 

 total length ; it is subcorneal, anteriorly attenuated, the upper jaw projecting 

 considerably beyond the lower one. The gape of the mouth is nearly hori- 

 zontal ; its angles extending considerably beyond the orbits. The teeth are 

 subcorneal or hemidiscoid, granular or sand like in general appearance and of 

 various sizes ; very small ones occupying the intervening space between the 

 largest. They are disposed upon multiple series : three of these may be ob- 

 served towards the anterior portion of the dentary (lower jaw), whilst one 

 only extends backwards along that bone. There is a double series of them at 

 the upper jaw ; a double series also along the shaft of the vomer, the latter 

 being continuous forwards with the nasal patch, where three or four series exist. 

 The nostrils approximate the apex of the rostrum ; the upper ones are very 

 small, and placed opposite the inferior ones, which are conspicuous and tubu- 

 lar. The eyes are subelliptical and well developed ; their longitudinal diame- 

 ter entering twice upon the rostral distance anterior to the orbits. 



The ground color is brownish olive, except the throat and belly which 

 are of a dull whitish tint. Rounded, dark brown spots, rather diffuse at their 

 periphery, constitute four longitudinal series from head to tail, leaving but the 

 abdominal region unicolor, for the throat exhibits small, blackish spots. The 

 spots about the head are likewise a good deal smaller and of a deeper hue 

 than along the rest of the body. The fins are olivaceous ; the anal and pecto- 

 rals being unicolor, whilst the dorsal fin is edged with white and exhibits 

 moreover a series of spots similar to those observed on the body. 



We have selected the name of Myrichthys tigrinus for the above species. The 

 specimen upon which the foregoing observations were made, was caught in 

 Adair Bay, Oregon, by Capt. C. P. Stone, and presented to the Museum of the 

 Smithsonian Institution. 



VII. A few years ago we have established the genus Cyprinella to include 

 sundry species of small cyprinoid fishes apparently very numerous in the 

 rivers and streams lying westwardly to the main bed of the Mississippi, as 

 well as in Texas and the Mexican provinces adjoining the Rio Grande del Norte 

 (Rio Bravo). Up to the time our reports upon these fishes passed through 

 the press, we had not met with any species of that genus east of the Alleghany 

 range. We are now in possession of numerous specimens of various sizes, 

 from an inch to three inches in total length, which appears to be the full grown 



[Feb. 



