82 Smith and Scale Fishes from the Island of Mindanao. 



mouth directed obliquely upwards ; maxillary 3 in head measured to sym- 

 physis ; a single row of about 14 sharp curved teeth in each jaw ; no teeth 

 on vomer, palatines, or tongue ; tongue small, rounded ; eyes rudimentary 

 and covered with skin ; gill-opening restricted to sides, the isthmus very 

 broad ; a small pore or slit on nuchal region just above gill-slit opening 

 into a pit or cavity separate from gill-cavity ; head naked, with numerous 

 mucus pores ; a depression midway between eye-pit and upper posterior 

 margin of opercle in which a roughened bony surface is exposed; no 

 scales except on posterior third of body, which is well scaled, about 12 

 series between dorsal and anal at anterior portion of squamation ; vertical 

 fins not enveloped in skin ; dorsals connected, the entire fin low, its ori 

 gin on a line with posterior third of ventral rays, the posterior rays con 

 tinuous with caudal ; anal fin long, confluent with caudal, its rays 

 short, its origin below the last dorsal spine; anal papilla very prominent ; 

 pectoral base very broad ; ventrals J.95 in head, united, the anterior por 

 tion forming a cup-shaped disk. (In all the specimens the fins, the ventrals 

 excepted, are mutilated and a full description is impossible.) Color in 

 spirits uniform yellowish white. 



Five specimens, length, 2 to 2.25 inches. Type, 2.25 inches long, from 

 the Rio Grande, Mindanao ; No. 55,619, U. S. National Museum. 



SOLEIDAE. 



31. Achirus thepassii Bleeker. 



One specimen, length, 2 inches. Depth, 2.30 without caudal ; no pec 

 torals ; interorbital narrow ; dorsal, 69 ; anal, 48 ; scales, 89. Color in 

 spirits yellowish with dark dots and blotches; rows of fine dots on fins. 



