Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 457 



nasal curtain to be spread wide apart. Mouth occupying about ^/g of breadth of head; 

 lower jaw bowed forward centrally. Roof of mouth with a transverse row of six or seven 

 short blunt papillae close behind line of emergence of upper dental plate; margin of 

 transverse curtain fringed; floor of mouth with about six papillae (Fig. 106 A). 



Teeth in form of flat, narrow transverse bands in single series in each jaw after 

 birth; one or two of anterior rows in two series in embryos.*^ Upper dental plate oc- 

 cupying about 80 "/o of breadth of mouth ; strongly convex anteroposteriorly and slightly 

 transversely; the teeth nearly straight along midsector but somewhat bowed rearward 

 toward outer ends, the posterior teeth more strongly so than the anteriors; anterior 

 4-6 teeth so worn down by friction with lower teeth that their median Vs^Vs is flat trans- 

 versely, the front three or four teeth usually ground down into the shape of a shallow 

 gutter with a flat floor (Fig. 106); most anterior upper tooth with sharp or only slightly 

 blunted cutting edge, concealed by nasal curtain when mouth is closed; most posterior 

 upper teeth more or less covered over by a forward-projecting flap from roof of mouth. 

 Lower dental plate occupying about 60 "/o of breadth of mouth, flat, with 3—6 or more 

 anterior teeth projecting beyond upper dental plate when mouth is closed (after death); 

 either one or two lower teeth emerging beyond margin of lower lip at any given time 

 depending on the stage of replacement; the free lower surfaces of those that project 

 beyond lower lip sculptured with close-set longitudinal furrows; free edges of lower 

 teeth strongly bowed forward transversely in obtuse subangular outline, each somewhat 

 overlapping the one next in front of it.** Six to ten rows of fully calcified teeth above 

 and 7—12 below in late embryos, increasing to about 10 above and 12 or 13 below in 

 specimens about 600 mm wide and up to 23 above and 29 below *^ in very large individ- 

 uals; these succeeded posteriorly by one or two above and by one to four below with 

 soft outer ends, and these by one or two that are entirely soft. 



Subrostral fin parallel-sided basally but bluntly wedge-shaped or ovoid toward tip, 

 noticeably thick and fleshy, situated at a level hardly above that of mouth and projecting 

 forward from anterior contour of head; its length anterior to anterior margins of eyes 

 between 1/2 and ^/g (60 "/o) as great as distance between spiracles. Dorsal fin with short 

 free lower rear margin and subangular tip ; its anterior margin weakly convex, apex mod- 

 erately rounded, posterior margin weakly sinuous; its base about 1.3— 1.4 times as long 

 as its vertical height; its rear tip anterior to tips of pelvics by a distance 35-45 "/o as great 

 as distance between spiracles ; its origin posterior to axils of pelvics by a distance about as 

 long as diameter of eye or half as long as its own base. Pelvics extending rearward be- 

 yond rear limits of pectorals by a distance about 2/3 as great as distance between spi- 

 racles ; anterior margins weakly convex, posterior margins more strongly so and slightly 

 wavy; length of outer margin about equal to distance between first pair of gill openings. 



63. There are two teeth in two of the anterior upper rows in each of four embryos from Panama (one 250 mm wide), 

 but one tooth only in a fifth embryo. 



64. For a more detailed account of the teeth of individuals of various sizes, see Gudger (Pap. Tortugas Lab., 6 (12), 

 Publ. Carneg. Instn., 183, 1914: 291). 



65. Gudger, Pap. Tortugas Lab., 6 (12), Publ. Carneg. Instn., 183, 1914: 292; Radcliffe, Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., 34, 

 1916: 278. 



