SYRRHINA BREVIROSTRIS. 285 



Pectorals not extending halfway to end of snout 

 rostral ridges nearly parallel ; 



transversely banded or blotched . . exasperata (page 28(3) 

 spotted with yellowish ocellae .... xyster (page 28(5) 



SYRRHINA BREVIROSTRIS. 



Plate 65, fig. 3. 



Rhinobalus (Syrrhina) brevirostris Muller & Henle, 1841, Plagios., p. 114, pi. 36; Castelnau, 1855, 



Anim. nouv., Poisa., p. 100; Dumeril, 1865, Elasm., p. 489. 

 Rhinobalus brevirostris Gunth., 1870, Cat. fishes Brit, mus., 8, p. 447. 

 Syrrhina brevirostris Garman, 1888, Bull. M. C. Z., 17, p. 89, pi. 25. 



Disk broadly rounded, broader than long, angle in front of orbits about 105°; 

 tail from bases of ventrals half the total length. Crown deeply concave trans- 

 versely, orbital edges prominent. Snout short, less than twice the width of the 

 mouth; rostral cartilage strong, wide at the base, tapering rapidly to a sharp 

 point; rostral ridges far apart>at the base, converging regularly forward. Nos- 

 trils nearly transverse, little less in width than the internarial space, hardly 

 half that of mouth; outer section of anterior valve undeveloped, lobe large, 

 inner section extended on the interspace more than halfway to the middle line; 

 outer and inner sections of posterior valve small, subequal, covering about half 

 the edge of the nostril, lobe narrow, slender, much smaller than that of the an- 

 terior valve. Mouth nearly straight, width less than twice that of the inter- 

 narial space, more than half the length of the snout. Teeth small, flat, smooth, 

 in 74 rows on the upper jaws of a specimen of eighteen and one half inches. 

 Eyes moderate. Spiracle as large as the eye, with one fold. Scales small, 

 intermixed with larger ones; prominent tubercles in a series above the vertebrae 

 to the second dorsal, in two rows of two or three each on each shoulder, in a 

 pair in front of each eye, in another pair above each spiracle, and in a row of 

 small ones above each orbit. Tubercles striate on their sides, nearly covered 

 by skin and scales. Dorsals equal base of first, two thirds of distance from 

 second or two fifths of distance from bases of ventrals, hind margins convex. 

 Caudal short, broadly rounded posteriorly. 



Olive-brown on head and middle of back, lighter toward edges of disk and 

 fins. A blackish spot below the posterior extremity of the pectorals. 



Specimen described from Rio Janeiro, Thayer Expedition. 



Brazil. 



