86 ALLAN HANCOCK PACIFIC EXPEDITIONS VOL. 9 



them smaller canines than those of the premaxillaries. Mandibular teeth 

 similar to those of the maxillaries, approximately twenty-five teeth on 

 each side. The inner series comprises about nine teeth on each side, though 

 these are not so large as the teeth of the inner series of the maxillaries. 

 Dorsal and anal fins absent ; a slight caudal fringe, with a few rays evi- 

 dent, at tip of tail, almost surrounding it and extending further upward 

 and forward on the dorsal curve than on the ventral. Tip of tail narrower 

 than the remainder of the caudal region, ending in a moderate curve, not 

 sharply pointed. 



Body color yellowish, marbled with reddish brown. Over this mar- 

 bling there are numerous brownish black spots of irregular size and 

 shape. The dark mottling is especially heavy above the midline and on 

 top of the head, almost obscuring the reddish ground color. Ventrally the 

 reddish brown marbling predominates, only a few dark spots being 

 present, mainly around the anal opening and on the tail. Yellowish body 

 color is more strongly evident ventrally, especially on belly and ventral 

 side of head. Anterior and posterior nostrils white. Pores of the upper 

 and lower jaw surrounded by white. Edge of membrane around tip of 

 tail yellowish white. 



This species seems to be allied to U. macrocephalus of the Indo-Pacific 

 region, with which it agrees in having the trunk and head longer than the 

 tail. It differs from that species in the much shorter head, the greater 

 depth of the body, the much greater development of the posterior nostrils 

 (in specimens of the same size), and the different color pattern. 



Genus GYMNOTHORAX Bloch 



Gymnothorax Bloch, 1795, Naturgeschichte der auslandischen Fische, 

 part 9, p. 83 (type G. reticularis Bloch, under suspension of the 

 Rules by the International Commission on Zoological Nomencla- 

 ture, Opinion 93, 1926, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 73, no. 4, 

 p. 5). 



Lycodontis M'Clelland, 1844, Calcutta Journ. Nat. Hist., vol. 5, no. 18, 

 pp. 173, 185 (type L. literata M'Clelland by subsequent designa- 

 tion of Jordan and Evermann, 1896, Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., 

 no. 47, p. 392). 



Rabula Jordan and Davis, 1892, Report U.S. Fish Comm. for 1888, vol. 

 16, p. 589 (type by original designation Muraena aquae-dulcis 

 Cope). 



