106 EPHIPPUS GIGAS. 



remarkably prominent between the eyes, with the supra-orbital ridges well de- 

 veloped, which gives to the profile a peculiar appearance. The eyes are large and 

 prominent ; the pupil is dark, and the iris silvery. The posterior and larger nos- 

 trU is a narrow, elliptical fissure, directed downwards and forwards, and is situat- 

 ed on a plane below the centre of the eye, and very near the orbit ; the anterior 

 is round, much smaller, lower down, and nearer the mesial line. 



The mouth is small, as it does not extend to the posterior nostril ; the lips are 

 tolerably thick, and fleshy ; the upper jaw is very protractile, a little longer than 

 the lower, and both are armed with several series of numerous slender, rather 

 long, setiform, or bristly, sharp-pointed teeth ; the pharyngeal bones have teeth of 

 a similar form, but somewhat larger at their base, and slightly shorter. The tongue 

 is small, rather thick, and rounded in front. The pre-opercle has its angle round- 

 ed, its ascending border nearly vertical, and both finely serrated. The opercle is 

 narrow, round below, and terminates behind in an obtuse angle. The whole head, 

 except the lips, is covered with scales, minute on the forehead and cheeks, larger 

 on the pre-opercle and opercle. The gill-openings are of moderate size ; there are 

 six branchial rays. 



The dorsal fin is single, but deeply emarginate ; it begins opposite the middle 

 of the pectoral, a little in front of the most elevated part of the back, and has in 

 its anterior portion eight spines, placed in a groove ; all are short, except the third, 

 fourth, and fifth, and of these the third is greatly prolonged, and covered with skin, 

 so that its point is concealed ; the second portion has one spinous and twenty-one 

 soft rays, the five anterior very long ; the others become gradually shorter, and thus 

 they make the posterior margin of the fin almost vertical, rounded below, and fal- 

 ciform above. These rays, and the membrane that unites them, are covered with 

 scales to near their tips, and they are so collected at the base of the fin, as to give 

 it a very thick and strong appearance. The pectoral is short, broad, rather point- 

 ed, and begins as far forward as the root of the ventral, though it extends only 

 half as far back, and is covered with minute scales for more than half its length. 

 The ventral is long, terminates behind in a point, and has one spinous and five 



