414 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxv. 



ASPASMA Jordan and Fo^^^le^. 

 Af!]^<if!>ii<( Jordan an<l Fowler, new jienus (minimds). 



Body nioderatel}' broad, depressed anteriorly; snout prominent, 

 depressed, suggesting the bill of a duck; jaws with rather strong, 

 conical teeth in one series in each jaw; gills 3^; pseudobranchiie rudi- 

 mentary; branchiostigals 5; gill -membranes attached to the isthmus; 

 anterior margin of sucking disk free, the posterior part attached to 

 the shoulder girdle; dorsal and anal short, with well-developed raj's, 

 both lins well separated from the caudal; no scales. 



Small fishes of the warm seas of Japan, apparently closely allied to 

 the Zepadof/aster^ of the Mediterranean, but the latter has longer fins 

 (D. 15 to 18; A. 8 to 14) and a 'difierent dentition, the very small 

 teeth being in a patch in each jaw, and one row on the scales. In 

 Mii'helia himaculata^ Avhich has also very short fins, the teeth are in a 

 villiform patch anteriorly, as in LejMdogaster. The genus M'trhelia 

 was originally proposed for those species of Le]^)adog aster' which have 

 the caudal free from the dorsal and anal. 



{dff7Taffi.ia, an embrace.) 



a. Dorsal rays 6; anal rays 5; depth 7 in length; last ray of dorsal and anal not 



adnate to caudal peduncle minuna, 1 . 



aa. Dorsal rays 10 to 12; anal rays 9; depth 5| in length; last ray of dorsal and anal 

 adnate to caudal peduncle ciconiie, 2. 



I. ASPASMA MINIMA (Doderlein). 



Lepadogaster minimus Doderlein, in Steindachner, Fische Jajmns, IV, 1887, p. 270; 

 Sagami Bay in 100 to 150 fathoms. 



Head 3^; depth 7. D. 6; A. 5. Bod}-, elongate, iimch compressed 

 below in front, and the laterally compressed posteriorly. Head rather 

 long, broad, compressed, and its breadth If in its length; snout 

 depressed, rather pointed, about 4 in the head, and 1 in the interor- 

 bital space; ej^es small, lateral, 4 in the head and about equal to the 

 snout; interorbital space, together with the upper part of the head, 

 })road and flat; mouth with the jaws about equal and th(^ maxillary 

 reaching the eye. Gill-openings lateral, directly in front of the pec- 

 toral, and the isthmus very broad across; origin of the dorsal nearer 

 the base of the caudal than the tip of the pectoral; anal ver}- slightly 

 behind the origin of the dorsal, the posterior edges of both fins nearh^^ 

 even, leaving a free caudal peduncle; pectorals very broad, short, 

 rounded, and nearly If in the head; disk rounded, its edge entire and 

 about liT in the head; caudal short, rounded, and nearh' If in the 

 head: caudal peduncle free, strongh- compressed, and its depth equal 

 to the interorbital space. 



^Gouan, Hist. Pise, 1770, p. 177, roslratus. 



