236 THE PLAGIOSTOMIA. 



eye to end of snout or 3 of the distance from the mouth to the tip. Spiracles 

 large, above the level of the eye and one ocular diameter farther back. Gill 

 openings narrow, in a shallow groove, in front of the pectoral bases. Mouth 

 not large, nearly transverse, with a long groove behind each angle. Teeth in 

 the upper jaw erect or curving backward, subulate. Lower teeth larger, with 

 a cusp on the inner half directed obliquely outward. Scales minute, flatfish, 

 topped with a rounded centre surrounded by a ridge forming a tetrangular 

 enclosure from each corner of which the ridge extends toward each corner of the 

 base. Pectorals short, broad, rounded on the angles, reaching little behind the 

 dorsal spine. First dorsal short, low, origin little in front of the end of the 

 pectoral; spine about half as high, not greatly exposed. Second dorsal long, low; 

 origin nearly half way from that of the first dorsal to the end of the caudal, 

 above the axil of the ventral. Caudal short, deep, vertebral axis slightly raised. 

 Ventrals short ; as in E. bispinatus, the ends are plate-like, and there is "a long 

 slender spine from the anterior and outer base, bifid at the tip." 



Uniform jet black, fins whitish toward outer margins, a black spot on the 

 upper edge of the pectoral. 



Type a male of 5.9 inches, taken in Batangas Bay, Luzon, at a depth of 170 

 fathoms. 



SCYMNORHINUS. 



Scyrnnits Cuvier, 1S17, Reg. anim., 2, p. 130 (non Kugelann, 1794). 

 Scymnorhinus Bonaparte, 1846, Cat. pesci Eur., p. 16. 



Elongate, fusiform; tail shorter than the body. Snout subcorneal, bluntly 

 rounded at the end. Nostrils anterior; valve with a rounded lobe, the inner half. 

 Mouth transverse with a deep straight groove and labial folds at each angle. 

 A villous upper lip in front of the teeth. Upper teeth raptorial, lanceolate; 

 lower sectorial, compressed, serrated on the edges, nearly erect in the middle of 

 the mouth. No nictitating folds. Spiracles wide, transverse, behind the eye, 

 at a higher level, opening upward. Gill openings rather small. Dorsals short, 

 without a spine, first before the ventrals. No anal fin. Caudal large, subcaudal 

 deep. Scales minute, carinate. Doubtfully known from Miocene and later. 



Scymnorhinus licha. 



/.. liche Broussonet, 17S0, Mem. Acad, roy., p. 677; Duhamel, 1782, Traite, 4, p. 301, 328. 



Sqiutias licha Bonnaterre, 1788, Ichth., p. 12. 



Squalus americanus Gmelin, 1789, Linne Syst., 1, p. 1503; Schneider, 1801, Block Ichth., p. 136. 



Squalus liche Lacepede, 1798, Poissons, 1, p. 279, pi. 10, f. 3. 



Squalus nicaeensis Risso, 1810, Ichth. Nice, p. 43, pi. 4, f . 6; 1S26, Hist, nat., 3, Poissons, p. 137, pi. 2. f. 4. 



