1452 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



1834. OPHIOSCION SCIERUS (Jordan & Gilbert). 



Head 3f (4 iu total) ; depth 3 to 3^; eye 5^ in head. D. X-I, 24 ; A. II 

 7 ; scales 6-50 to 55-12. liody oblong, the caudal peduncle slender, thi^ 

 l)ack moderately elevated; snout rather acutf, projecting moderately 

 beyond the premaxillaries, its length 3|; in head ; anterior prolilc slightly 

 concave above eye, thence from nape to dorsal steep and rather strongly 

 convex; mouth of moderate size, little oblique, subiuferior, the maxillary 

 extending to rather beyond the posterior margin of pupil, its length 3:V 

 iu head. Teeth in the lower jaw in a rather broad villi form l)and, the 

 outer teeth not enlarged, similar to the inner teeth; outer teeth of upper 

 jaw moderately eularged. Interorbital space rather narrow, gently con- 

 vex, its width 5i in head. Cranium not spongy to the touch; preopercle 

 rather coarsely serrate, the teeth near the angle largest, none of them 

 directed forward. Gill rakers thickish, extremely short and small, the 

 longest not longer than nostril. Scales rather small, the soft dorsal and 

 anal well scaled. Dorsal spines rather slender and low, the second mucli 

 stouter than the third, which is longest, 2 in head; longest soft ray of 

 dorsal 2* in head; caudal flu irregularly double truncate, the median 

 rays longest, 1^ in head, the upper angle not produced; longest soft 

 rays of anal about i head; second anal spine robust, rather long. If in 

 head; pectorals reaching past tips of ventrals, li iu head; Aentrals IJ. 

 Color steel gray above, dull silvery below, everywhere much soiled with 

 darlc brown points; center of each scale dark brown; these dark spots 

 confluent in narrow but distinct dark stripes, which follow the direction 

 of the rows of scales; streaks above lateral line anteriorly running ob- 

 liquely upward and backward; below lateral line horizontal posteriorly 

 and somewhat undulating; fins plain; the edge of the spinous dorsal and 

 the whole of the anal and ventrals blackish ; other fins paler. Pacific coast 

 of tropical America from Mazatlan to Panama ; one of the most abundant 

 of tlie Scitenoid fishes on the west coast of Mexico. Here described from 

 No. 29490, 9 inches long, from Panama, {dxiepoi^, dusky.) 



Scicena vermicularis, Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. U. S. Fish Uoram. 1881, 315 (uot Corviiia 



vermieularis, Gunther) . 

 Scicena sclera, Jordan &. Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mua. 1884, 480, Mazatlan; Panama 



(Types, Kos. 28385, 29229, 29269, 29275, 29337, 29638, 29490, 29499. Coll. C. H. Gilbert) : 



Jordan & Eigenjiann, I. c 404, 1889. 



Subgenus SIGMURUS, Gilbert. 



183.5. OPHIOSCIOX VERJIIOULARIS (Giinthci). 



Head 3^ ; depth 3. D. X-I, 27; A. II, 8; orbit 5 iu head; snout 3:3 ; max- 

 illary 3; highest dorsal spine 1^; dorsal ray 4; second anal spine 2^; 

 length of caudal fin 1|; ventrals 1? ; pectorals 1^. Body robust, deep; the 

 back considerably elevated; ventral outline rounded. Head somewhat 

 compressed; profile steep, a little concave over the head; mouth oblique; 

 premaxillaries below level of the eye; maxillary reaching to the vertical 

 from middle of pupil; lower jaw included; teeth on jaws unequal, an 

 outside series of larger ones being present, besides those of the villiform 



