38 THE DISCOBOLI. 



tion between tlie second dorsal and anal, deep near the abdomen, and taper- 

 ing rapidly to the caudal fin. Belly flattened, two thirds as wide as long. 

 Head short, one third of the total, as long as high, wider than long, inter- 

 orbital space concave transversely and slightly so longitudinally, steeply 

 inclined on snout and sides ; cheeks swollen ; mouth anterior, somewhat 

 oblique, little wider than interorbital space, not reaching a vertical from 

 front of eye; lower lip interrupted for a short distance at the symphysis; 

 chin with a series of four barbels on each side, formed by tubular prolonga- 

 tions of the pores similar to those of the nostrils. Teeth very small, conical, 

 slightly hooking backward, in five rows at the symphysis, some of which are 

 shorter and do not extend so far toward the sides as the others. Nostrils 

 small, tubular, the posterior between the eyes, and the anterior half-way 

 between the posterior and the mouth. Eyes moderate, lateral, as long as 

 the snout, less than one fourth of the head, prominent above the outline 

 of the forehead. Gill opening very small, covered by the spine-like angle 

 of the opercle, at a distance above the base of the pectoral equal to about 

 twice its own width. 



Skin covered with mucus, with four series of very small, distant, one- to 

 eight-spined tubercles on each side ; one series on each side of the median 

 line of the forehead along the sides of the bases of the dorsals, another from 

 each orbital ridge backward on the flank parallel with the first, another be- 

 hind each eye, and the fourth at the lower edge of the gill opening. Below 

 the last series the skin is quite bare. 



Ventral disk as long as the head, as broad as long, or broader, nearly 

 twice as far from the caudal as from the mouth. Dorsal fins very thick at 

 their bases, enveloped in loose skin through which the rays may be distin- 

 guished, separated by an interspace ; first higher, originating above the gill 

 opening ; the base of the second higher in front, and the posterior rays more 

 free from the thick skin. The extremities of the rays are all weak, and in 

 most cases have been carried away. That the caudal fin was pointed is 

 indicated by the strength of the median rays ; in other words, the fin was 

 longer in the middle. Pectorals broad, rounded in the upper part poste- 

 riorly, reaching as far backward as the hinder edge of the disk ; lower border 

 but little indented, if at all, with ends of rays prolonged as a short fringe. 



Color brown, approaching a chocolate, belly light. There is a dark brown 

 blotch between the eyes, another from each eye through the anterior nostril 

 to the month, one below the eye to the throat, one or two back of the eye 



