Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 371 



valleys, their apical margins not definitely toothed but at most slightly sinuous opposite 

 the ridges; pedicels very short." 



Head about V4 of total length or a little less, and very broad forward, its breadth 

 being nearly as great at eyes as at ist gill opening. Snout broad-ovate, relatively more ob- 

 tuse in large specimens than in small, its length in front of a line connecting outer ends of 

 nostrils a little more than Yi ^s great as distance between inner ends of latter, and length in 

 front of mouth about V3 of length of head to 5th gill opening. Eye approximately 

 circular, noticeably small in adult, its diameter varying in medium-sized and large speci- 

 mens from a little more than Vs to a little more than V4 as great as distance between oos- 

 trils, but relatively larger in young, its diameter being about as long as the 3rd gill open- 

 ing in late-term embryos, about V2 to % that long in newborn and in adults; its anterior 

 edge about opposite front of mouth. Gill openings nearly evenly spaced, their outlines 

 nearly straight or slightly sinuous, the 3rd (very slightly the longest) a little more than 

 V2 as long as distance between nostrils, the 5th slightly the shortest, the 4th above origin of 

 pectoral. Nostril strongly oblique, its inner end nearer to mouth than to tip of snout by a 

 distance a little greater than its own length, its anterior margin expanded in obtusely angu- 

 lar outline, subacute at apex, and weakly crested opposite latter. Mouth very broadly ovate 

 or nearly arcuate, its height approximately V2 its breadth (this proportion varies somewhat 

 from specimen to specimen). Upper labial furrow about ^4 as long as diameter of eye. 



Teeth jj'" 1^iH}2 Io 15 j" uppers broadly triangular, their margins regularly but finely 

 serrate from tip to base, the first 2 erect and nearly symmetrical, but subsequent teeth in- 

 creasingly oblique, with inner margins slightly convex and outer margins either evenly 

 concave or slightly subangular in contour, the 9th or lOth and subsequent teeth decreasing 

 successively in size and height relative to breadth j lower teeth erect, symmetrical, with 

 narrow triangular cusps on broadly expanded bases, the edges of cusps more finely serrate 

 than those of uppers, the bases smooth-edged, or at most slightly irregular. 



First dorsal origin about over axil of pectoral, its vertical height increasing relatively 

 with growth from a little greater than distance from eye to ist gill opening in embryo to 

 about as great as distance from eye to 2nd gill opening when newborn and to about as 

 great as from eye to 3rd gill opening in specimens of medium size; apex also more broadly 

 rounded in embryo but very narrowly so in adult, the free rear corner a little more than % 

 as long as base, the midpoint of base only about % (40%) as far from axil of pectoral 

 as from origin of pelvics. Second dorsal about V3 as long at base as ist and relatively much 

 lower, its origin about over origin of anal, its posterior margin only weakly concave, its 

 free rear corner moderately tapering and only about as long as the base. Caudal a little 

 more than V4 of total length, the terminal sector between V4 and Vs the length of fin, the 



83. Previous accounts (Radcliffe, Bull. U.S. Bur. Fish., 3^, 1916: 257; Springer, Proc. Fla. Acad. Sci., 3, 1939: 13) 

 locate this loose spacing only along the upper sides; but it extends over the trunk generally, below as well as 

 above, in the specimens we have examined. 



84. In one Woods Hole specimen (Harv. Mus. Comp. Zool., No. 36031) the tooth count isitzL^ilzll, but the 

 spacing of the lower teeth near the corners of the jaws is irregular, suggesting some abnormality. 



