1280 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



Body oblong or rather elongate, compressed ; scales large ; mouth rather 

 small, the canines inconspicuous; no teeth on tongue; dorsal fin rather 

 short, the soft part not scaly, the fin not notched ; skull essentially as in 

 Eielis, the interorbital area flat, separated by a tranverse line of demarca- 

 tion from the occipital, by which the median as well as the lateral crests 

 are limited; frontals wide in front, and not cavernous; supraorbital mar- 

 gin crenate ; periotic region much swollen outward and with the bones 

 tbin and polished; preorbital moderate; frontals behind with fuuncl- 

 shaped foramina. Aprion has essentially the form of Xeonuvnis, with the 

 skull of Etel'is. The American species is the type of the subgenus 

 Platyinius, which agrees with Aprion viresccns in the form of the skull, 

 differing chiefly in the specific characters of deeper body, weaker teeth, 

 and narrower preorbital. (a, without; Ttpicov, saw.) 



Subgenus PLATYINIUS,* Gill. 

 1653. APBION MACROPHTHALMUS (Miilhr & Tioscbel). 



(VORAZ.) 



Head 3; depth 3. D. X, 11; A. Ill, 8, scales 7-60-15, 52 pores. Body 

 oblong-elliptical, moderately compressed; the back hot greatly elevated; 

 profile convex anteriorly, almost straight above eye ; the nape again con- 

 vex, its keel low and placed well back; snout rather blunt, 3f in head; 

 eye large, 3| in head; interorbital space broad and flat, 4 in head; pre- 

 orbital narrow, 7^ in head; mouth small, oblique; lower jaw slightly 

 projecting; maxillary about reaching middle of eye, 2^ in head. Upper 

 jaw with a narrow band of villiform teeth, outside of which is a row of 

 larger teeth, the canines in front little dift'erentiated; lower jaw with a 

 single series of rather large teeth, scarcely large enough to be called 

 canines ; inside of this series is a comparatively wide band of villiform 

 teeth in front of jaw only ; a few larger teeth among the villiform teeth ; 

 tongue without teeth; Aomer with a rather narrow A-shaped patch of 

 teeth, without backward prolongation on median line. Gill rakers 

 numerous, the longest about f diameter of eye, about 5 + 15. Preopercle 

 with posterior margin almost straight and vertical, without emargination, 

 very finely serrate above, the teeth coarser on angle and lower limb. 

 Scales rather small, regularly arranged, the rows running parallel with 

 the lateral line both above and below it; 7 rows of scales on the cheek, 

 the scales of upper row not greatly enlarged, two rows on interopercle 

 and 8 on opercle; temporal region with about 4 rows of large scales; top 

 of head, snout, and jaws naked; base of soft dorsal and anal scaleless. 

 Dorsal little emarginate, the spines rather slender, the outline of the fin 

 moderately convex, third spine longest, 2f in head, tenth spine 3 in head; 

 margin of soft dorsal nearly straight, the first soft ray 3 in head, last ray 

 exserted, 2 in head; caudal well forked, the upper lobe slightly longer 

 than lower, 2| length of middle rays, which are 3 in head; margin of anal 

 similar to spinous dorsal, the last ray filamentous, 2| in head; anal spines 



* jrAarus, flat ; 'ii'i'oi', nape. 



