328 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



their base vertical, aud extending' to tbe abdominal ontline ; the fin con- 

 si8tin<>- of 18 rays, the fifth or sixth lonj>est, the lowest about f as long 

 as the fifth; first three or four rays simple, the others bifurcate. 



ISTo lateral line. Scales roundish, smooth, separate, embedded in the 

 skin, uniform over the whole of the body, except upon an area on the 

 upper surface in front of the dorsal, \\iiere they are smaller, and region 

 near base of pectorals scaleless. Head sealeless, the ridges somewliat 

 prominent. 



Color olivaceous, the scales lighter than the skin ; tlie color formed 

 by numerous dark points, Avliich are continued also upon the head. 

 TJl^per surfsxce of liead darker, abdominal surface lighter than other 

 portions. Vertical fins margined with black. 



This species is not uncommon in the markets at San Francisco. Two 

 specimens, 10 to 12 inches in length, have been forwarded to the United 

 States National Museum, where they are numbered 23502. They may 

 be considered as the types of tlie species. 



2. Odontopyxis trispinosus, ,u,eii. utkI s]i. nov. 



Generic characters. — Family Agoinda', allied to AyonuH {cata- 

 phractiis), from which it differs chiefly in the presence of teeth on the 

 vomer and palatines. It is distinguislie<l from A(jonopsis, Gill, by its 

 smaller fins and slenderer form. 



Specific characters. — Body (jctahedral, the lower flat side termi- 

 nating behind the anal fin, the upper side a little behind the second 

 dorsal. Posterior portion of body hexagonal. Bod}' anteriorly very 

 much broader than deep, the ujjper side, from the head to its termination, 

 concave; lower side slightly concave; the other surfaces flat. Lateral 

 surfaces (traversed by the lateral line) wider anteriorly than those sepa- 

 rating them from the u]>per and lower surfaces; posterior to the second 

 dorsal the lateral surfaces are narrowest. 



Greatest depth, above ])ectoraI, 10-12 times in length; greatest width, 

 at gill-covers, 7f-8; length of head, 5|-5i times in the total length ; eye, 

 3^-3|; sn<mt, 3^-3| ; interorbital width, ^>f^-7 times in length of head. 



Head triangular, depressed. A sharp, rather long, movable spine 

 upon the tip of the snout, its trianguhir base projecting beyond the Jaws; 

 behind this central spine, on the highest point of the snout, is a pair of 

 similar, but recurved, fixed spines. Snout posterior to these spines 

 nearly level to orbital region. A prominent supra-orbital ri<lge ending 

 posteriorly in a backward-directed spine. Forehead strongly convex 

 longitudinally, and strongly concave transv^ersely. Occiput slightly 

 depressed betwe<ni the i)ar-occipital ridges, its posterior border <leeply 

 emarginated. Supra-occipital ridge but slightly marked above, but very 

 conspicuous on the hinder margin of the head, where there is a deep 

 cavity iii front of the first series of body-plates, this cavity longitudi- 

 nally divided by the supra-o(;cipital ridge. A sligiitly-marked ridge 

 from the center of the hinder margin of the eye to the lateral keel of 



