50 



BULLETIN OF THE. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



Triglops metopias, new species. (Fig. 8.) 



Type 144 mm. long, from station 4777, Petrel Bank, Bering Sea; depth 52 fathoms. 



Length of head 27 hundredths of total length to base of caudal; depth of body 16.5; diameter of 

 eye 8; length of snout 7.6; interorbital width 4.2; length of maxillary 11. 8; width of head 12; distance 

 from tip of snout to edge of branchiostcgal membrane 17.9; distance from tip of snout to front of dorsal 

 26.5; from front of spinous to front of soft dorsal 20; length of base of soft dorsal 43.5; distance from 

 snout to base of ventrals 29; from axil of ventrals to anus 7.6; from anus to front of anal fin 8.2; length 

 of anal base 42.7; length of caudal peduncle 10; longest pectoral ray 23; longest ventral ray 16; longest 

 caudal ray 18.5; middle caudal ray 12. 



Dorsal xi-26; anal 27; pectoral 20; ventral I, 3; scutes along lateral line 50. Of the 8 specimens 

 in the collection, i has dorsal xi-25, anal 26; 2 have dorsal xi-26, anal 26; 3 have dorsal xi-26, anal 

 27; I has dorsal xi-27, anal 27; i has dorsal xi-28, anal 28. 



Body heavy at the shoulders, not so elongate as in Triglops forficata; occiput broad, gently 

 convex, the sides nearly vertical; interorbital space wide, shallowly concave, abruptly narrowed 

 above middle of orbits as in Triglops forficata by the incurving orbital rims; anterior portion of 

 orbital rim forming a convex prominence over front of orbit; a shallow groove behind nasal spines 

 and one behind orbits; snout deeper, shorter, tapering more rapidly than in Triglops jordani; mouth 

 slightly oblique, maxillary nearly reaching vertical from middle of pupil; jaws equal in front, sides 



Fig. 8. — Triglops metopias, new species. Type. 



of mandible included; teeth in narrow bands on jaws and vomer, none on palatines; nasal spines 

 minute; preopercle with 4 small spines, the upper sharp, directed backward, with a slight upward 

 ciu^e, the second backward and downward, the third downward, the fourth forward; the second, 

 third, and fourth are blunt and flattened, the third wider than the second, the fourth still wider, all 

 with stronger ribs which may terminate at the margin in blunt prominences; gill membranes widely 

 joined, free from the isthmus, the posterior margin V-shaped, deeply indented, leaving much of 

 breast before pectorals uncovered. 



Upper part of head and body covered with minute plates, each bearing a rosette of spinelets on 

 its posterior margin. This prickly area extends on the body from base of dorsal to lateral line, and 

 covers the head down to the suborbital .ring and the suborbital stay, leaving only a narrow lower 

 margin of these naked; maxillary, lower portion of cheeks and subopercle and lower side of head 

 naked; a series of slightly enlarged dorsal scutes, as in Triglops forficata, not quite reaching the 

 middle of the soft dorsal, 26 or 27 in number in the type; lateral folds numerous, very irregular, the 

 primary folds ceasing and new ones beginning at any level; in addition to the principal fold descending 

 from the posterior margin of each scute, there are two or sometimes three secondary folds intercalated; 

 the lateral folds fail to reach base of anal fin and do not encircle caudal peduncle below; crossfolds 

 on the breast reduced, only two present in the type, varj-ing from 3 to 6 in co-types, one specimen 

 wholly without folds; a series of pores on lo\vcr part of suborbital ring below the prickles; the usual 

 series of pores on the mandible; vent slightly nearer base of inner ventral ray than front of anal. 



