Jordan cnid Evermann. — Fishes of North America. 2073 



Averruncus are still closer, the chief difference being in the smooth jilates 

 of the body and in the absence of cirri on the gill membranes, (sarritor, 

 one that scrapes.) 



a. Snout moderate, about 4 length of head ; ventrals dark in male. feenatus, 2419. 



aa. Snout very long, produced in a flat, triangular piece exserted for a distance equal 



to f orbit; ventrals pale. leptorhynxuus, 2420. 



2419. SARRITOR FREXATUS, * Gilbert. 



Head 4i to 4^. D. VI to VIII, 7 or 8 ; A. 6 or 7 ; P. 15 ; V. I. 2 ; C. 11, -with a 

 rudiment; lateral line 40. Body slightly depressed, tapering regnlarly 

 backward from occiput, the depth about | of the width at base of pec- 

 torals. The ridges are prominent, the dorsal and dorsolateral ridges pro- 

 vided with strong spines, the ventral and ventrolateral series with weak or 

 scarcelj^ discernible spines, all decreasing in size backward, becomino- 

 obsolete on caudal peduncle. Dorsal face deeply concave anteriorly, its 

 ridges coalescing, from 3 to 4 plates behind the dorsal fin; other faces 

 much less concave, the ventral ridges coalescing, 3 or 4 plates behind the 

 anal lin; plates in dorsal series 44 or 4.5; 5 or 6 pairs between occiput and 

 first dorsal, 9 or 10 under first dorsal, 2 or 3 between dorsals, 7 or 8 under 

 second dorsal, 17 or 18 behind dorsals; about 25 plates on breast, consist- 

 ing of a strong median series which bear a well-marked rounded ridge, a 

 strong lateral series at edge of breast also projecting, and a number of 

 small plates occupying the concave intermediate areas. In young speci- 

 loens the breast plates have central elevations, and bear each a back- 

 wardly directed spine; these disappearing in adults; a number of small 

 irregular plates in front of and on base of pectorals; membranaceous in- 

 tervals behind and around vent smaller than in Podothecus acipenserinus, 

 occupied by 8 or 9 irregularly arranged plates, not in pairs and not cor- 

 respouding to those of the ventral series between which they are inter- 

 calated; medial part of branchiostegal membrane and the gular region 

 covered with roundish plates, the whole forming a halberd-shaped patoh ; 

 lateral line running on a series of small plates occupying the middle of 

 the lateral face; anteriorly these entirely disappear, the lateral line 

 ascending and running on the upper lateral series ; about 5 large plates, 

 sometimes bearing spines, lie behind upper axil of pectorals, between this 

 ascending portion of the lateral line and the inferior lateral series or 

 plates ; head depressed, tapering rapidly to the snout ; depth of head at 

 occiput t its width at preopercular spine, the latter contained 6^ times in 

 length of body. Eye large, the orbit about eciualing length of snout be- 

 hind the serrated rostral ridge, 31 to 3f in head; snout somewhat vari- 



* Diagnosis : Body tapering uniformly from occiput to caudal, a little more slender than 

 Podothecus acipensenmts, depth about J of width at base of pectorals, the latter 71 to 73 

 in length ; head 4^. Plate.s in dorsal series 44 or 45 ; between occiput and first dorsal 5 or 

 6; between dorsals 6 or 7; from ventrals to anal 14 pairs. Six pairs of barbels, 1 on under 

 side of snout in front of premaxillaries, 1 near and 2 at tip of maxillarv, 1 at angle of 

 moutli, and 1 at side of lower jaw. A pair of perpendicular serrated plates at tip of 



1 pair occipital spines. Teeth on jaws and vomer, none on palatines. Gill membranes 

 .loined to isthmus without free fold. Last ray of each dorsal .shortened and adnate to t\v 

 back. Light grayish with a few indefinite blotches and bars of darker on sides and back , 

 pectorals with several narrow dark cross bands near base and broader ones toward tip. 



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