QUAST: Srbaslri vatugatui SP. N. 



to body axis anteriorly and posteriorly. Body 

 near head flattened laterally, body width slightly 

 greater than 1/2 body dejith at pelvic fins. In- 

 terorbital region flat to convex. Cranial ridges 

 over orbit usually lower than dorsal profile of 

 head when viewed from side, but sometimes 

 tangent or project slightly above the profile. 

 Dorsal outline of head usually smooth and 

 slightly concave between snout and nape. Low- 

 er jaw projects and enters dorsal profile of head. 

 Symphyseal knob weakly developed or absent. 

 Posterior profile of caudal fin indented; that of 

 anal fin slants upward-posteriorly. Pectoral fin 

 symmetrical; both it and pelvic fin extend to or 

 nearly to vent. 



Head spines low but strong and well devel- 

 oped — nasal, preocular, postocular, tympannic, 

 and parietal present. Other cranial spines ab- 

 sent except occasionally one nuchal present. 

 Two opei'cular spines diverge slightly and are 

 contained within outline of opercular flap. Some 

 specimens with one (rarely two) small spines 

 on lower opercle. Two strong suprascapular 

 spines. Five preopercular spines: upjier three 

 longest and diverge slightly; second from top 

 longer than either first or third. Lower two 

 preopercular spines broadly triangular and 

 strong. Lacrimal bone has two blunt or rounded 

 prominences ventrally but no spines. Spines 

 absent on suborbital bones and stay. 



Spinous rays in dorsal fin strong and sharp, 

 third to fifth usually longest. Interspinous mem- 

 branes markedly indented posteriorly in each 

 space; indention varies from about 1/2 of length 

 of following spine in first to about 1/4 of fol- 

 lowing spine in fourth space and posteriorly. 

 Spinous rays of anal and pelvic fins strong and 

 prominent; second anal spine longest, and 14- 

 23 Sf of its length exceeds third. Each soft ray 

 in dorsal fin branched at least once, usually with 

 posterior and sometimes anterior branchlet di- 

 vided again. Bordering principal rays on caudal 

 fin simple, but branched rays have three sets of 

 dichotomies each (end in eight branchlets). 

 Soft rays of anal fin branched at least once, and 

 usually each branchlet divided again; sometimes 

 posterior branchlet divided several times. Soft 

 rays of pelvic fin branched at least twice, usually 



with further dichotomies. Uppermost ray of 

 pectoral fin simple; ventrally, degree of branch- 

 ing increases from one dichotomy to 1-1/2 or 2; 

 lowermost rays slightly thickened and simple, 

 rarely with one dichotomy. 



Squamation on head ctenoid and nearly com- 

 plete — includes snout between premaxillaiy pro- 

 cesses (in holotype but not in paratypes), sides 

 of snout, dorsal surface of head, preopercle, 

 opercle, lacrimal area, maxilla, mandible, and 

 branchiostegals. Lips and branchiostegal mem- 

 branes not scaled. Body fully scaled; scales 

 finely ctenoid on body sides, but ctenation re- 

 duced on belly and breast and even more reduced 

 to absent on scales of isthmus, which are all 

 small. A few small, smooth scales extend in 

 line posteriorly from axilla of each pelvic fin. 

 Scales on bases of vertical fins and between pel- 

 vic fins markedly reduced in size. Scaled areas 

 on dorsal fin spines extend nearly to tips. In- 

 terspinous membranes usually scaled on prox- 

 imal 1/3; scaled areas usually extend farther 

 distally near fin spines. Dorsal fin squamation 

 mostly smooth on holotyise but mostly ctenoid 

 on paratypes. Scales usually absent in areas 

 of dorsal fin membranes with heavy black pig- 

 mentation. Rays of soft dorsal fin scaled nearly 

 to tips, but membranes not as completely scaled. 

 Scaled areas of soft dorsal fin usually limited 

 to proximal 2/3 of fin — all scales ctenoid. Squa- 

 mation of caudal fin ctenoid, its membranes 

 scaled nearly to end of fin. Posterior unpig- 

 mented border of fin naked. Caudal rays scaled 

 only near their bases (but scales possibly lost 

 from more distal portions of rays in specimens 

 of this series owing to collection methods). 

 Squamation of anal fin ctenoid; fin spines scaled 

 nearly to tips; interspinous membranes naked 

 except for narrow area bordering third spine. 

 Membranes between anal soft rays scaled over 

 proximal 1/2-3/4; scaled areas extend farther 

 distally on soft rays. Pelvic fin has spines and 

 soft rays scaled nearly to tips; scales mostly 

 smooth. Upper pectoral rays scaled nearly to 

 tips, but squamation absent at unpigmented tips 

 of rays. Proceeding downward on ventral 1/2 

 of pectoral fin, rays have progressively more 

 naked area distally ; extent of naked area pro- 



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