Jordan and Evcrniann. — Fishes of A^orth America. 2489 



is obloug-ovate, the bead naked aud the snout without spine. (j;Ad/3z, 

 the modern Greek name of the species of Ophidion and liissola.) 



2858. CHILABA TATLORI (Giraid). 



Head 6; depth 8; head large, little compressed, naked; top of head with 

 conspicuous mucous pores; dorsal fin beginning over the pectorals; outer 

 ray of ventral little more than I length of head, inner about i; air blad- 

 der ovate, not contracted; 7 gill rakers lielow the angle of the arch; 

 pseudobrauchia' developed; no spine on the end of the snout; opercle 

 with a flat spine concealed in its membranes; outer teeth in both jaws 

 considerably enlarged, the upper largest. Color light olive ; head :ind upper 

 parts covered with conspicuous round dark, olive-brown spots ; chin dusky ; 

 vertical tins edged with black. Length 12 inches. Coast of California, from 

 Monterey to 8an Diego; not rare in waters of moderate depth. (Named 

 for A. S. Taylor, its discoverer.) 



Ophidium taylori, GlEABD, Pac. E. R. Surv., x, Fishes, 138, 1858. Monterey, California 

 (Type, No. 867. Coll. A. S. Taylor) ; Jordan & Gu-bekt, Synopsis, 793, 1883. 



949. RISSOLA, Jordan & Evermaun. 



BUsola, Jordan &, Evermann, Check-List Fish. N. and M. A., 483, 1896 {marginatum). 



This genus contains species agreeing with Ophtdion in general characters, 

 l)ut with the air bladder short, liroad, spherical or kidney-shaiied, with a 

 posterior foramen. Species chiefly of the Mediterranean. (Named for 

 Anastase Risso, apothecary at Nice, author of the Ichthyologie de Nice, 

 1810, and Histoire Naturelle de FEurope M^ridionale, 1826, two of the very 

 best of local faunal works, the foundation of our knowledge of the fishes 

 of the Mediterranean.) 



28.59. RISSOLA MARGIXATA (DeKay). 



Head 6^; depth 7^; eye 4 in head; maxillary reaching posterior margin 

 of orbit; air bladder short and broad, with a foramen on the under side; 

 upper ray of ventral about equaling length of head; inner ray \ length 

 of outer; gill rakers 4; color nearlj^ jjlain brownish ; dorsal and anal fins 

 margined with black. Coast of the United States, from New York 

 south to Pensacola and the coast of Texas; n_ot very common; very simi- 

 lar to the Mediterranean species Bissola rochii (Miiller), but probably 

 distinct, (marr/iimtus, margined.) 



Ophidium marginatum, De Kay, N.Y. Fauna: Fish., 315, 1842, New York Harbor; Putnam, 

 Proc. Best. See. Nat. Hist. 1874, 342; Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 792, 1883. 



lOphidlum josephi, * Girard, U. S. and Mex. Bound. Surv., ZooL, 29, 1859, Saint Joseph 

 Island, Texas; Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 793, 1893. 



* The scanty description of Ophidian josephi agrees fairly with either liissola margi- 

 nata or Ophidian halbrooki, and may be either. The following is the sub-^tauce of 

 Girard's account: 



" Head ti in length ; eye moderate, 4 in heart ; maxillary extending to opposite its poste- 

 rior margin; origin of dorsal at some distance behind base of pectorals. Body shorter 

 and pectorals more elongate than in O. taylori. Pale olive, sprinkled all over with 

 brownish specks; belly and sides of head plain ; vertical fins edged with black." 



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