Jordan and Evermann. — Fishes of North America. 2155 



dark spots on their anterior margin; soft dorsal witli 3 rows of dark 

 spots; pectorals blackish, a few of the upper rays pale on the inner side; 

 ventrals and anal pale; caudal barred with dusky. Length 4 inches. 

 Pacific coast of Colombia. Very many specimens dredged at a depth of 

 33 fathoms. {^Evi6iJ-a, a surprise.) 



Prionotus xenisma, Joedan & Bolljian, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1889, 169, Pacific Ocean 

 off coast of Colombia, at Albatross Station 2795, 7° 57' N., 78° 55' 'W. (Type, No. 

 41151.) 



2483. PRIOXOTCS LOXIAS, Jordan. 



Head 2^ ; depth 3i. D. X-10 or 11; A. 10; scales about 50. Body stout; 

 head large, rough ; mouth moderate, maxillary not reachiug front of orbit, 

 2| ill head ; eye large, 3| to 4 in head ; snout 2^ in head ; opercular spine 

 strong, nearly as large as preopercular spine; humeral spine small, not 

 I as large as either of the others; iuterorbital area narrow, its ridge 

 evenly concave, its width 2| in eye; preopercular spine without smaller 

 one in front ; no spine at center of radiation of cheek ; preorbital edge 

 prominent, finely denticulated; supraorbital ridge prominent, with a 

 bluntish spine before and behind; a trausAerse grooAe on head behind 

 eye; snout broad, slightly emarginate at tip, the rostral plates not much 

 projecting, their edges sharply and finely serrate, with 10 to 12 serrae; 

 occipital ridges a short distance behind supraorbital ones, ending in a 

 bluntish spine, as also the nuchal ridges. Teeth on jaws, vomer, and pal- 

 atines in bands; lower jaw included; base of mandil)le below front of 

 orl)it; bones of cheeks and opercles with strong stria', tlie rest of the 

 bones of the hea<l roughish. Gill rakers short, about 10 below the angle, 

 the anterior ones tubercle-like; breast closely scaled. Pectorals short, 

 3J to dl in the length of the body, scarcely longer than longest detached 

 ray, their tips reaching about third ray of anal fin, length 3i in the body; 

 ventrals long, their tips almost reachiug tips of pectorals, If in head; 

 first dorsal spine the longest, its length 1} in head, serrate in front; first 

 dorsal ray slightly serrulate at base, its length 3 in head; longest anal 

 ray 4 in head; caudal fin lunate, with pointed lobes. If in head. Color, 

 brownish above, grayish below ; head and anterior parts more or less dis- 

 tinctly vermiculated with dark olivaceous, these markings especially 

 distinct on bones of head; sides with 6 to 15 narrow brown oblique bands 

 extending downward and backward from the lateral line about halfway 

 to anal fin, these obsolete or less conspicuous on anterior portion of the 

 body; both dorsals mottled with olive; caudal with 3 broad blackish 

 bars which do not cross the upper and lower ray, the last bar broad and 

 very conspicuous; upper ray of caudal dark olive; no black spot at base 

 of caudal; anal and ventrals white; pectorals blackish, faintly barred 

 with darker and margined with white. Pacific coast of Central America. 

 Here described from many specimens, 3 to 6 inches long, from Albatross 

 Station 2805, where it occurs with Prionotus xenisma, but more abundantly 

 than the latter. It has not yet been seen elsewhere. This species resem- 

 bles Prionotus xeiiisma yerj closely. It is, however, a little more elongate, 

 with rather smaller scales, the snout longer, the caudal fin barred, the 



