PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



99 



Dimensions. 



No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. I No. 5. 



Total length, in inches 



Length without caudal 



Length of head 



Greatest depth of body 



Depth from tip of dorsal to that of anal 



Length of lower jaw 



Distance from tip of lower jaw to origin of anal. 



"Width of caudal peduncle 



Longitudinal diameter of lower eye-ball 



Length of pectoral, colored side 



Length of pectoral, blind side 



Length of veutrals 



Lengih of snout, from a line joining the orbits. . 



Distance from origin of anal to lateral line 



Number of dorsal rays 



Number of anal rays 



5h 



102 



114 

 4^ 



h 



72 

 49 



Another sx)ecimeii bad 73 dorsal and 53 anal rays. In consequence of 

 the height and size of the prominences round the upper eye, the upper 

 orbit is larger than the lower. The species appears to be rare ; Girard 

 saw only one specimen, and as yet I have only seen about twelve. It is 

 taken outside the bay in deep water, probably near the Farallone Islands. 

 The large eyeballs, iirotruding through the diminution of the pressure 

 consequent on the removal of the fish to the surface, and overhanging-, 

 as it were, the short, snub snout, together with the bright brown tint, 

 give this fish an unmistakable physiognomy even when viewed from 

 above ; and the curious prolongation of the dorsal on the left side, to- 

 gether with the brown markings, render it still more easy to identify 

 when the blind side is exposed to \iew. 



Is Fleuronectes qiiadrituherculatus Pall. (Zoog. Eoss.-As. iii, p. 423, 

 teste Giinther) identical with the foregoing? The two "approximate, 

 anteriorly situated " tubercles may very well be the prominent extremi- 

 ties of the interocular ridge ; there is another " at the hinder margin of 

 the upper orbit" (with, however, a second above it), and that above the 

 opercle is large and prominent. The fin-rays, lateral line, and scales 

 agree perfectly well with this species ; but the proportion of depth to 

 length is smaller, and " anal si^ine hidden " does not apply to the speci- 

 mens of coonosns brought to this market. Yet the i)roportion of the Ijody 

 is within the range of variation of some of our other flat-fishes, and the 

 anal spine is not j^rominent. It is also a suspicious circumstance that 

 no one has ever identified Pallas's species. 



If my surmise should prove correct, coenosus must of com\se sink into 

 a synonym, and the name of the species will be Plctironichthi/s quadri- 

 tuherculatus. 



In No. 4, the dorsal fin was not continued downwards nearly so far as 

 in the others, agreeing thus more closely with Girard's description ; the 

 first ray wiis about level with the toj) of the upi^er lip, and only four 



