NO. 6 MYERS AND WADE: NEW WEST COAST FISHES 159 



Myxodagnus sagitta, new species ^ 

 Plate 20, fig. 2 



Holotype.—ARY no. 908. 



Type locality. — Station 807-38, Academy Bay, Indefatigable Island, 

 Galapagos, dredged in 10-25 fms, January 24, 1938. Only the type 

 known. 



Measurements of holotype in mm. — Standard length (to tip of upper 

 jaw) 34, depth 4.25, head length (including lower jaw) 8.1, head length 

 (without lower jaw) 7.5, eye 1.3, snout 1.5, maxillary 1.5, pectoral 

 length 11.5, ventral length 3, caudal 5.1, predorsal length 8, preanal 

 length 8. 



Description. — Body elongate, somewhat rounded anteriorly, becom- 

 ing moderately compressed posteriorly and tapering gradually to caudal 

 base. Greatest depth (behind pectoral base) 8 in standard length. 



Dorsal fin XI, 27, origin slightly behind vent, over first anal spine; 

 fin low and continuous, last ray not joined by membrane to caudal base. 

 Predorsal length 4.25 in standard length. Anal fin II, 35, similar to 

 dorsal but higher. Preanal length 4.25 in standard length. Caudal fin 

 rounded, with 10 articulated rays, its length 1.47 in head. Pectoral rays 

 13, fin elongate and pointed, tip of longest ray extending one-half the 

 length of fin behind curve of lateral line, to above eleventh anal ray. 

 Head 1.35 in pectoral length. Ventral fins I, 3, inserted below vertical 

 edge of preopercle, 2.5 in head, end of fin almost reaching vent. 



Head elongate, acutely conical, 4.5 in standard length. Dorsal profile 

 almost straight, curved slightly downward to tip of snout. Ventral 

 profile curved steeply upward from ventral insertion to tip of snout. 

 Lower jaw strongly projecting, a fleshy flap or papilla at symphysis. 

 Mouth oblique, superior ; end of maxillary extending slightly past anterior 

 edge of eye, its length 5 in head. Edge of lovv^er lip fringed with numerous, 

 large fimbriae; upper lip without fringe. Teeth in jaws in narrow bands 

 of small, pointed teeth; vomerine and palatine teeth absent. Nostrils 

 paired, anterior nostrils tubular. Eyes moderate, superior, 6.22 in head. 

 Interorbital narrow, reduced to a narrow septum between the eyes. Snout 

 bluntly rounded anteriorly, slightly longer than eye, 5.4 in head including 

 lower jaw. 



" While our paper was in proof, Dr. Hildebrand's A descriptive catalog of the 

 shore fishes of Peru (1946, U.S. Nat. Mus., Bull. 189) appeared. On p. 408 he 

 describes a new species, Myxodagnus macrognathus, from Lobos de Tierra, Peru. 

 This is close to our new species, but appears to differ from sagitta in the fringed 

 upper lip, the much shorter pectoral fins, the smaller eye, the differently shaped 

 mouth, and perhaps other characters. 



