Jordan and Evcnnann. — Fishes of North America. 2619 



2985. VERASPEE MOSERI, Jordan & Gilbert, new species. 



Head 3i in length to base of caudal; depth 2. D. 82; A. 58; pectoral 

 12; pores in lateral line 84. Depth of caudal iieduucle 4 in greatest 

 depth of body; length of caudal peduncle, measured axially, If in its 

 depth. Head much depressed, with rather wide, Hat interorbital space, 

 resembling in appearand^ rscttichihys meJanostictus, its thickness at inter- 

 orbital sjjace equaling distance l)etween pupils of upper and lower eyes. 

 Mouth small, very oblique, the gape strongly arched, the broad maxillary 

 reaching a vertical lichiud middle of pupil, 2* in head; mandil)le narrow- 

 ing toward tip, with very rudimentary symphyseal knob. Teeth in upper 

 jaw in 2 distinct series throughout, those of the outer series increasing 

 slightly in size toward front of jaw, but none of them canine-like; man- 

 dil)ular teeth in 1 row, except at symphysis, where a few teeth form a short 

 outer series. Nasal openings of eyed side approximated in front of mid- 

 dle of interorbital space, the anterior with a short tube, the posterior with 

 a raised rim. Eyes small, their anterior margins opposite, the diameter of 

 lower eye equaling distance from tip of snout to posterior nostral, 6^ in 

 head. Interorbital space rather broad and flat, not ridge-like, its total 

 width equaling I diameter of orbit. Gill rakers short, broad, triangular, 

 minutely toothed on inner margin, J diameter of eye; 7 present on hori- 

 zontal limb of outer arch. Lateral line with a short high anterior arch, 

 the cord of which is 7V the straight portion; height of arch ^ its length; 

 behind the arch lateral line descending in a gentle curve to middle of 

 sides, the scales very rough, each possessing several long, sharp spines 

 diverging from median portion of posterior margin; anterior aud poste- 

 rior portions of dorsal and anal fins naked, the rays of the middle portion 

 each with a series of strongly ctenoid scales ; caudal densely scaled to tip ; 

 pectorals and ventrals naked; head covered with strongly spinous scales, 

 excepting snout, maxillary, and mandible; on blind side of head the 

 snout, jaws, preopercle, suljopercle, lower half of opercle, aud all but 

 a central strip on interopercle, scaleless; on blind side the scales are 

 rough on head, ventral area, and along bases of ventral fins, largelj' smooth 

 elsewhere. Dorsal beginning above front of pupil, the rays increasing in 

 length to the forty-tifth, which is 2f in head; longest anal ray (the seven- 

 teenth) 2f in head. Caudal broadly rounded. If in head; pectoral short 

 and broad, 2f in head; ventrals of nearly equal length, reaching origin of 

 anal, 3i in head; no anal spine. Color in spirits, centers of the scales 

 light gray, the margins dark brown; fins light or dusky, the vertical iins 

 with conspicuous black bars, parallel with the rays, these most evident 

 on under side where the pigment seems princii^ally to occur, and are seen 

 through the fin more faintly on the colored side; lining of cheeks and gill 

 cover of colored side dusky; peritoneum gray. Kuril Islands; 1 male 

 28 cm. long, from Shana Bay, Iturup Island; also taken at Hakodate. 

 (Named for Jeft'erson Franklin Moser, U. S. N., Lieutenant-Commander, 

 in charge of the U. S. Fish Commission Steamer Albatross, and a member 

 of the United States Fur Seal Commission for 1896.) 



Verasper moseri, Jordan & Gilbert, Kept. Fur Seal Invest., 1898 MS., Shana Bay, Iturup 

 Island, Kuril Group. (Type No. 48797. Coll. Albatross, Capt. J. T. Moser.) 



