224 



FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM ZOOLOGY, VOL. V. 



Head 2f ; depth 2^ to 2>; D. xvi or xvn, 8; A. vii to ix, 6 or 7 ; 

 scales 7-30-13. Body rather elongate, compressed; profile nearly 

 straight to nape, more curved from nape to first dorsal spine; mouth 

 rather small, maxillary 3^3 in head; jaws equal, outer series of teeth 



FIG. 72. THORICHTHYS ELLIOTI Meek. 



little enlarged; lips thick, the lower with a frenum; preorbital 3 in 

 head; postorbital 2J^; diameter of eye 3$ in the head; eighth dorsal 

 spine 2^ in head; last spine 2 ; middle rays of dorsal produced in 

 adults, their tips reaching to or past middle of caudal fin; pectoral 

 long and rather slender, its length i% in head; ventral with its rays 

 produced, their tips reaching sixth anal spine; length of ventral ij 

 in head; caudal fin lunate, its outer ray usually produced into a short 

 filament; least depth of caudal peduncle 2f in head, its length 

 slightly less than its depth; gill rakers very short, about 12 on first gill 

 arch. 



Color dark olivaceous, sides with 6 indistinct cross-bars; a black 

 blotch on side below lateral line at extremity of pectoral fin ; no black 

 caudal spot; a black blotch on opercle just in front of pectoral fin; 

 cheeks with black spots, some of which have blue centers; some of 

 these spots as large as the pupil; many of the scales on lower half 

 of the sides have dark centers forming lateral stripes along the rows of 

 scales; a few transparent spots on the soft dorsal, soft anal, and caudal 

 fin; a light stripe near tip of spinous dorsal, a similar one on anal. 



This species differs from Thorichthys helleri chiefly in having a 

 darker color, and in having the large black spots on the side of the 

 head; the dorsal fin is also lower, and the fish is more elongate. 



