13 



Ch.ENICTIIYS lUIlNOCKKATUS. Ilicliavilsoii. 



Species uiiica adliuc cognita. 



Rauii :— B. 6 ; D. 7|— 34 vel 35 ; A. 33 ; C. 1 H ; P. -22 ; 

 V. l!5. 



Plate VI., figs. 1, 2, and 3. 



This fish has a general resemblance to the Gurnards, or 

 Prionotes, in the form of the head, the tapering body, and 

 the fins, but is without the free pectoral rays. The head 

 makes one-third of the length of the fish, exclusive pf the 

 caudal fin, and from its width, its bidk is in still greater 

 proportion. Its great size is chiefly owing to the extent 

 of the face and mouth. It is wider than the body, and the 

 flat top of the somewhat cubical cranium is continuous 

 with the straight line of the back : before the eyes the pro- 

 file is slightly concave. The snout is formed of the 

 fiontal bone, lengthened into two low, transversely rounded 

 ridges, separated by a narrow mesial furrow, and is 

 enlarged laterally to the full width of the head, by the 

 soft, extensible walls of the ample month. Almost all the 

 bony parts of the head have a more or less granular or 

 radiated surface, as in the Gurnards, but the bony case is 

 less complete than in that genus, much smooth integument 

 interposing between the plates of bone. The vomer ap- 

 pears on the upper surface of the tip of the snout, between 

 the ends of the frontal processes, in form of a small circu- 

 lar plate, with a central umbo, or horn. This plate is 

 flanked on each side by the narrow ends of the nasal 

 bones, and the points of the palate bones, which likewise 

 show through the integument, marking the breadth of the 

 truncated end of the snout. The articulating knob of the 

 maxillary is contiguous to the tip of the nasal bone on each 

 side. The truncation of the proper snout is not, at first 

 sight, evident, for the intermaxillaries, lying at their sym- 

 physis in the same place with the frontal processes, con- 

 stitute the anterior extremity of the head, which is thin 

 vertically, but widely curved laterally. Their pedicles 

 being very short, admit of no protrusion, but being con- 

 nected by soft parts to the proper extremity of the snout, 

 have a vertical hinge-like motion. The limbs of the lower 

 jaw meet at the symphysis in a rather acute ellipse, and 

 have a small knob beneath. The under jaw is fully equal 

 to the upper one in length. Its articulation being under 

 the centre of the eye, admits of a very wide gape, but the 

 horizontal orifice of the mouth is restricted to about two- 

 thirds of the length of the jaw, by membranes, which 

 include the maxillaries, and fold up as the mouth closes. 

 The surface of the articulating piece of the lower jaw is 

 furrowed, and roughl}' granular. 



Both jaws are armed with flat bands of fine card-like 

 teeth, the bands narrowing to a point at the corners of the 

 mouth. There is a narrow velum immediately behind the 

 dental surface, above and below. The roof of the mouth 

 is toothless. 



The maxillaries have a slender, cylindrical shape, slightly 

 curved, like the italic f, and becoming thinner, and a very 

 little wider, towards the end which touches the corner of 

 the mouth, and plays along the limb of the lower jaw. 

 They are giauulated at the upper end, and striated and 



smooth lower down. Their articulations are entirely pos- 

 terior to the intermaxillary pedicles, so that the two bones 

 approach only at the corner of the mouth. The very small 

 anterior nasal opening is situated close before the articu- 

 lating head of the maxillary ; the posterior one is over 

 the middle of the preorbitar, and has a short tubular mar- 

 gin. The eyes are rather large, the long diameter of the 

 orbit being equal to about one-sixth of the length of the 

 head. They are two diameters nearer to the tip of the 

 gill-cover than to the intermaxillary symphysis. The 

 upper edge of the orbits is raised so as to render the inter- 

 orbital space concave. The top of the skull is flat, and 

 nearly square, and, together with the orbital plates, is 

 strongly marked by radiating granular lines. The princi- 

 pal centre of radiation on each side is near the base of 

 the orbital plate, lines running from it to the edge of the 

 orbit, to the occiput, and across the posterior part of tlie 

 frontal bone. There are three much smaller radiating 

 clusters on the hinder part of the cranium, behind which 

 four small rough plates cross the head, and form the pos- 

 terior boundary of the skull, while the rough temporal 

 bones flank it laterally. A short occipital crest, and two 

 roughly striated supra-scajjulars, which pass outwards to 

 the humeral chain, are on the same plane with the top of 

 the skull and the nape. 



The preorbitar bone has a scalene triangular form, the 

 under side being the hypothenuse. It is traversed by fine, 

 prominent, smooth, radiating lines, whose tips form teeth 

 on the edge of the bone. The preorbitar reaches about 

 half way to the intermaxillary symphysis, but there is 

 much smooth integument beneath it, and the maxillary 

 scarcely touches it, even when the mouth is closed. The 

 other bones of the suborbitar chain are small and rough, 

 and girdle the under half of the orbit, leaving a large 

 naked cheek. The second suborbitar bone has no resem- 

 blance, in form or oflrce, to that of the Gurnards. The 

 preopercnlum is considerably curved, and has an obtuse 

 process, or elbow, a little above the apex of the curve. 

 Its disk, including this elbow, is roughly granular. Its 

 upper limb is nearly vertical, and is shorter than the under 

 one. It is a little distant both fi-om the temporal bone 

 and the operculum. The sub-cylindrical intcroperculuni 

 is widest at its junction with the suboperculum, and is 

 rough and ridged on its surfoce. The bony operculum is 

 divided deeply into three diverging parts, exclusive of its 

 very short articulating stem. The upper and under parts 

 are triangular, and the posterior one is split into five teeth, 

 having the spaces between them filled with a notched 

 membrane. The posterior and uppermost tooth varies in 

 form, being sometimes forked, at otlier times crenated, or 

 denticulated. The others point more or less downwards, 

 and the lowest and foremost is a little recurved. Thev 

 all rise at their tips, with their membrane, from the general 

 surface of the gill-cover. The bony part of the suboper- 

 culum shows, exteriorly, in form of fine ribs, imbedded in 

 the general membrane of the gill-cover, and radiating to- 

 wards its edge, beyond which they slightly project. This 

 structure approaches to that of the suboperculum of a 

 Lophius. The entire gill-cover has a triangular form, 

 with an acute tip, which is somewhat curved upwards. 

 It is united to tl;e side of the head, at the junction of the 



