GINGLYMOSTOMA BREVICAUDATUM. 55 



Body cavity nearly one half of total length, head about one fifth and caudal 

 not far from two sevenths. Body and head broad and depressed anteriorly, 

 width of head equal to its length to the first gill opening. Eye very small, 

 elongate. Spiracle pore-like, lower than the eye and one length farther back; 

 farther from the eye than on G. brevicaudatum. Nostrils small, near the end of 

 the snout, connected with the mouth by a nasoral groove, anterior valves with 

 a cirrus extending to the mouth cleft, widely separated by the preoral attach- 

 ment across which a ridge passes from one valve to the other. Mouth moderate, 

 lips swollen, extending over about half the length of each jaw. Teeth small, 

 about §§ rows on specimens of 15 inches or less, several series in function, 

 compressed, with a strong sharp median cusp and small lateral denticles (1 or 2) 

 on each side of it. Gill openings small, first about twice the length of the eye, 

 posterior widest, fourth and fifth close together above the pectoral. Fin angles 

 broadly rounded. Pectorals larger than the first dorsal; origin of first dorsal 

 little forward of the mid length total, opposite or little backward of that of the 

 ventral. Second dorsal more than half as long as the first, one length of the 

 base from that of the latter. 



Anal much smaller than second dorsal, and origin below the middle of its 

 base which ends below the middle of the space between end of second dorsal 

 base and origin of caudal. Subcaudal long, rather narrow. 



Scales small, with a low keel or smooth, hinder edges sharp, those on upper 

 edge of caudal and about openings of pores larger. 



Colors of large individuals brown, yellowish to plumbeous, of young yellow- 

 ish to light brownish, most often with scattered small spots of brown; in cases 

 with a transverse band of brownish across the snout, another through the first 

 dorsal and ventrals, a third through the second dorsal and the anal; lower 

 surfaces lighter. 



Tropical Atlantic and Eastern Pacific. 



GlNGLYMOSTOMA BREVICAUDATUM. 



Ginglymostoma brevicaudatum GtiNTH., 1866, Fishes Zanzibar, p. 141, pi. 21 ; 1870, Cat. fishes Brit, mus., 

 8, p. 408. 



Head broad depressed, snout broad and broadly rounded at the end, 

 broader, thicker and less pointed than that of G. cirralum. Eye minute. Spir- 

 acles small, distant from the eye one length of the latter. Nostrils small; ante- 

 rior valves reaching the lip, separated by the very broad preoral attachment, with 

 a cirrus half as long as the valve; posterior valve a fold on the outer side of the 



