476 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



A row of circular spots commences on the belly, near the pectoral fins, and 

 extends to the anus. 



Total length, 38 inches. To anus, 13 inches. 



Habitat. Pacific Ocean ? Cabinet of the Academy. 



A single specimen of this magnificent fish is in the collection presented by 

 W. G. Burke, Esq. This specimen, at first glance, would not appear to belong 

 to the genus Herpetoichthys ; but the slight variations are not sufficient to refer 

 the species to any other genus. The exact locality from which the species 

 was obtained is uncertain, but various circumstances induce me to suspect it 

 is a species belonging to the Pacific fauna. 



Genus Pisoodonophis, Kaup. 



Diagn. Teeth short, conic, and more or less blunt. Anterior nostril tube 

 well developed, and approximating the corner of the mouth. Pectorals more 

 or less fully developed. 



2. Pisoodonophis magnifica, Abbott. Spec. char. Head small, facial 

 outline with an oblique curvature ; the snout rather obtuse, with the upper 

 jaw extending much beyond the lower, making the nasal teeth visible when 

 the mouth is closed. The body is perfectly cylindrical, and tapers very 

 gradually to the tail, which terminates in a conico-acute horny point. The 

 dorsal fin has its anterior insertion at the occiput, and the fin terminates 

 before it reaches the horny extremity of the tail. The anal fin is coterminal 

 with the dorsal. The pectoral fin is small, circular, with twenty rays. The 

 teeth are all very small, conical, and acute, six standing irregularly on the 

 disc of the nasal bone. The teeth upon the palate, vomer, and mandible are 

 biserial, and placed very close to each other. Palatine teeth ; 

 vomerine teeth 



Color. In alcoholic specimens, the ground color of this fish is pink, darkest 

 upon the back, and nearly lost upon the belly, which appears white, without 

 close inspection. At the base of the anterior nasal tubes are two very small 

 dark chocolate-brown, semicircular spots ; behind these, and anterior to the 

 orbits, are situated two similar markings, but larger, and little deeper in 

 color. Commencing at the insertion of the dorsal fin are two series of spots 

 of chocolate color, separated only by that fin ; these spots, if viewed from 

 above, have the appearance of transverse bands. These spots are not, in every 

 case, directly opposite, but they are generally so. Upon the sides is a single 

 series of spots, of the tints of the dorsal markings, which are two-thirds of the 

 width of the sides, measuring from the base of the dorsal to the centre 

 of the belly. Upon the belly are three rows of small, circular spots, which are 

 very irregular as to position. 



Total length, 19 inches. To anus, 8 inches. To gill-opening, 1 J mch. 



Habitat. Sandwich Islands. 



The Museum of the Academy contains two specimens, which were collected 

 and presented by Dr. J. K. Townsend. 



3. Murzena acutirostris, Abbott. Spec. char. Head much compressed ; 

 the facial outline moderately oblique ; the jaws greatly attenuated, very 

 slender; the lower mandible somewhat the smaller, with a gentle upward 

 curve at its extremity. The fold of the skin, enveloping the dorsal fin, is 

 unusually thin, and arises within a short distance of the occiput, with a slope 

 of about forty-five degrees. The fin is equal in width to seven-eighths of the 

 width of the body, and has no perceivable decrease until it approaches the 

 posterior eighth of the body, when it decreases rapidly, and at its termination 

 is only equal to one-seventh of the width of the fin upon the back. The eye 

 is large, circular, its diameter equal to one-fifth of the length of the side of 

 the head, measuring from the angle of the jaws ; the orbits are one diameter 



[Oct. 



