NO. 1305. THE DRAGONETS OF JAPAN— JORDAN AND FOWLER. 958 



opening rounded, nearer the origin of the dorsal than the posterior 

 margin of the e3'es, and nearer the hitter than the origin of the pectoral. 



Spinous dorsal midwa}' between the origin of the soft 'dorsal and 

 the middle of the eye or its posterior margin; dorsal spines all very 

 long and slender, all produced into long, slender filaments, the first 

 very long, sometimes reaching the base of the caudal, the second the 

 shortest, the third longer and closely joined to the last above, which 

 is still longer; dorsal rather high, and the last ray greatly elongated, 

 so that it is nearly equal to the base of the fin; anal beginning a little 

 before the third dorsal, and its last ray about equal to two-thirds the 

 length of the last dorsal ray; pectoral with its median rays the longest, 

 and the angle somewhat rounded; ventrals very long, and extending 

 nearly to the tips of the pectorals; caudal long, about one-half the 

 length of the body, and its middle rays produced into slender fila- 

 ments. Caudal peduncle compressed, its breadth greater than its 

 depth, which is two-thirds the eye. 



Color of males in alcohol, rich ])rown above, mottled with minute 



-Callionymus flagris. 



spots forming rings or blotches with pale centers and traces of several 

 broad crossbars; several pale bluish ])ars on the sides of the head; 

 sides of the trunk with 5 dark brown blotches; lower surface of the 

 body white; spinous dorsal white, with a number of large black spots, 

 and generally a blackish marginal crescent above; soft dorsal gray, 

 the basal portion with reticulating white lines inclosing large blackish- 

 brown spots; below and above are small pale spots; anal fin gray, be- 

 coming blackish toward its margin; pectorals with small spots above, 

 ventrals gray, the outer portion of the rays blackish, and the margin 

 of the fin gray; caudal gray, the middle and lower half with 5 bars of 

 broad gray-black spots. The female differs from the male chiefly in 

 having the dorsal spine short, the first a little longer than the others, 

 and without filaments; the last dorsal ray is short, and the caudal lacks 

 the filaments. The color is more somber, and the anal and the margin 

 of the ventrals are pale. Here described from specimens from Tsuruga 

 and Tokyo, the largest reaching 7i inches. 



