24 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 



MYSTUS HAVMOLLERI, new species 



VOL. 79 



Description. — Dorsal profile rather steep, sloping in a straight 

 line from' dorsal fin to rounded overhanging snout ; depth 4 in stand- 

 ard length ; caudal peduncle rather stout, its narrowest part 1.5 in its 

 length and equal to postorbital part of head ; head conical, as broad 

 as high, its length 1.5 its breadth and equal to depth of body; skin 

 of head smooth, a shallow median fontanelle extending from between 

 eyes to base of slender occipital process, which reaches interspinal 

 bone of dorsal; eye small, 5 in head, 2 in snout, nearly 2 in convex 

 interorbital space; mouth horizontal, its width 1.5 eye; a narrow 

 band of teeth in jaws and on palate; nasal barbels extending as far 

 as eyes, maxillary barbels 0.6 length of head, mandibulary barbels 

 somewhat longer than nasal, mental barbels shorter; a transverse 

 row of 4 large pores behind lower lip; entire snout thickly beset 

 with minute pores. 



FiGUEE 12. MYSTUS HAVMOLLERI 



Fins: Dorsal rays i,7; margin of fin convex; origin of fin mid- 

 way between tip of snout and origin of anal; dorsal spine short, 

 stout, without teeth, its length less than half depth of body and 

 equal to postorbital part of head ; adipose fin separated from dorsal 

 by a space equal to eye, its height 0.5 that of caudal peduncle, its 

 length about 2 times dorsal base; caudal broad, deeply forked, the 

 lobes broadly rounded and somewhat shorter than head; anal rays 

 iii,10, entirely under adipose, margin rounded, rays longer than 

 longest dorsal rays; ventrals short, inserted under two last dorsal 

 rays ; pectorals longer than but not reaching ventrals, the stout spine 

 longer than dorsal spine and strongly denticulated on posterior 

 edge. 



Color : General color light yellowish-brown ; body and head marked 

 by 7 irregular dark brown cross-bands : (1) from top of head, through 

 eye, across cheek, (2) from nape obliquely to lower part of opercle, 

 (3) from back in front of dorsal fin obliquely downward and back- 

 ward nearly to ventral base, (4) broad-based, triangular, from back 



