Zoological Society. 417 



Ckaunax pictus, Lowe. 



D. 11; A. 5; P. 11; V. 4; C. 



1+IV. 



2+11. 



Species adhuc unica. 



Hab. In mari Maderensi. 



Shape thick and deep, subcubic, about half as deep as broad, with 

 a puffy flaccid appearance, and evidently capable of vast inflation ; 

 bulky forwards, with the head, nape and body of equal depth and 

 thickness, contracting suddenly on the flanks or behind the pectoral 

 fins into a short thickish tail. Back of head and nape as far as the 

 dorsal fin broad and thick, flattened and uneven or irregularly pro- 

 tuberant ; thence to the end of the dorsal fin the body is nearly cy- 

 lindric, becoming compressed towards the root of the caudal fin. 



Head broad and deep ; eyes lateral ; sides of the head steep, but not 

 flat ; mouth very large and wide, but not so wide as the head, horse- 

 shoe or crescent-shaped. Teeth in a distinct brush-like band on the 

 edges of both jaws. Tongue very large, thick, hard and smooth. 

 The nostrils are two inconspicuous, minute, round, simple pores on 

 each side, one a little before the other near the edge of the muzzle. 

 Eyes of moderate size, roundish oval, rather prominent, but not 

 pedicelled. 



In the middle of the front of the muzzle is a short, pedicelled, soft, 

 flaccid tentacle or caruncle scarcely more than a semidiameter of the 

 eye in height or length; the whole body destitute of any other 

 tentacle, ray, filament or spine whatever ; the top of the head is 

 however irregularly knobbed, or uneven, with bony prominences and 

 depressions. 



The breathing- holes or branchial orifices are placed far backwards, 

 considerably behind the hinder axils of the pectoral fins, in the mid- 

 dle of the flanks, which are peculiarly flaccid and flabby. They are 

 oval, ear- shaped, and about the size or diameter of the eyes. 



The dorsal fin is single, placed nearly in the middle of the whole 

 length, its height one-fourth of the length of its base. 



The anal fin is placed far behind, opposite the end of the dorsal. 



The pectoral fins are placed low down about the middle of the 

 length of the body, beneath the origin of the dorsal fin. 



The ventral fins are close together, very forward, quite under the 

 throat. 



Caudal fin simple, truncate, with a straight edge. 



All the fins, except the dorsal and caudal, are thick and fleshy, 

 with the rays strong but indiscernible to the eye, except towards the 

 outer edges of the pectoral fins. 



The whole head and body, with the maxillaries and the rays of 

 the dorsal and caudal fins, are finely hispid or shagreened, and rough 

 and scabrous to the touch, the under surface more finely shagreened 

 than the upper. 



The whole skin is singularly loose and flaccid. The head and 

 body are, as it were, mapped out into compartments by remarkable 

 chain-like rows of pits or oblong, shining, smooth depressions in the 

 skin. One set or row of these begins upon the muzzle, and passing 



