2274 BuUetin 4.7, United States National Museum. 



dd. Lateral lino incomplete, running close to the back ; caudal rounded or 

 lanceolate; dorsal fin continuous. 

 e. VertebrsB about 27; scales cycloid; maxillary more or less dilated 

 behind, with a supplemental bone ; middle rays of ventrals 

 lon"-est. Opisthognathid.e, cxci. 



ee. Vertebrse about 50 ; scales ctenoid; maxillary not dilated, with- 

 out supplement bone; inner rays of ventrals longest. 



Bathymasterid.^e, cxcii. 



cc. Body naked; snout short; mouth very large, the maxillary much produced 



behind; jaws with sharp canines; lateral line well developed; dorsals 



2; caudal forked. Chiasmodontid^, cxciii.^ 



66. Snout much prolonged and spatulate; ventrals widely separated ; body scaly 



or naked; lateral line near the back; dorsal usually divided. 



Ch-enichthyid^, cxcrv. 

 art. Mouth vertical, the lips fringed. 



/. Eyes lateral; gills 4, a slit behind the last; preopercle armed; body naked, 

 compressed; caudal lunate, on a slender peduncle; vertebr;B about 48. 



Tbichodontid.e, cxcv. 



//. Eyes superior; gills more or less reduced, usually 3J, the last slit smaller 



wanting; suborbitals more or less dilated; body scaly or naked. 



g. Lateral line well developed, concurrent with the back anteriorly; dorsal 



spines slender, not pungent; vertebra; about 25 to 30. 



h. Ventral rays I, 3. Dactyloscopid.e, cxcvi. 



gg. Lateral line obscure ; dorsal spines few, more or less pungent, some. 



times obsolete. Uranoscopid^, cxcvii- 



Family CXC. MALAC'ANTHIDiE. 

 (The Blaxquillos.) 



Body more or less elongate, fusiform or eompressed. Head suLconical, 

 the anterior profile usually couvex; suborbital without bony stay; the 

 bones not greatly developed ; cranial bones not cavernous ; opercular bones 

 mostly unarmed. Mouth rather terminal, little oblique; teeth rather 

 strong; no teeth on vomer or palatines; the premaxillary usually with a 

 blunt posterior canine, somewhat as in the Lahridw; premaxillaries pro- 

 tractile; maxillary without supplemental bone, not slipping under the 

 edge of the preorbital. CJills 4, a long slit behind the fourth; pseudo- 

 branchia' well developed ; gill membranes separate, or more or less united, 

 often adherent to the isthmus ; lower pharyngeals separate. Scales small, 

 ctenoid; lateral line present,,complete, more or less concurrent with the 

 back; dorsal fin long and low, usually coutinuous, the spinous portion 

 always much less developed than the soft portion, but never obsolete ; anal 

 tin very long, its spines feeble and few; caudal fin forked; tail diphy- 

 cercal; ventrals thoracic or subjugular, 1,5, close together; pectoral fins 

 not very broad, the rays all branched; vertebr.-e in normal or slightly 

 increased number (24 to 30). Pyloric cceca few or none. Fishes of the 

 temperate and tropical seas, some of them reaching a large size. Genera 

 about 6 ; species about 8 to 10, mostly American. The relationships of the 

 family are obscure, and it may be that the genera here associated are not 

 really closely allied. (MalacanthUhv, Giinther, Cat., in, 359, 1861; Tra- 

 chinidw, part, Giinther, Cat., ii, 225-264, 1860.) 



