Jordan and Evertnann. — Fishes of North America. 841 



foliaceous expansions ; opercles unarmed. Month moderate, oblique, the 

 jaws subequal. Teeth villifoim, mostly in two rows, the inner row 

 largest ; palate toothless. One dorsal, with 2 or 3 spines and 10 to 16 

 rays. Anal inserted below last rays of dorsal, with 1 spine and 8 or 9 

 rays. Ventrals thoracic, with 7 rays. Caudal forked. Deep sea. Very 

 close to 2Ielam2}hai}s, from which it chiefly diflers in possessing 2 or 3 dor- 

 sal spines instead of 6. Perhaps the two groups should be merged in one, 

 as has been done by (iiinther and Gilbert. {n'/JjKTpnv, spur ; <'.)ij.nc, shoulder; 

 "two spines, one on each side of the nape, springing forward from the 

 shoulder bones, give a strange appearance to the fish.") 



a. Dorsal rays III, 15 or III, IG. 



l>. Nape with a spine ou each side, springing from tlie slioulder bones. 



SIBORBITALIS, 1222. 



hh. Nape without spine as above; bones of head Ann, witliout papery expansions; maxil- 

 lary reaching vertical from posterior margin of eye. lugubeis, 1223. 

 aa. Dorsal rays II, 11 to 13. 



('. Head 3 in length; jiectorai nearly or quite as long as head. beanii, 1224. 



((. Eye large, 4^2 iu head. 



dd. Eye small, 7 iu head. crassiceps, 1225. 



cc. Head 2g in length; pectoral 1'., in head; head with hiyh thin crests above; snout with 



a slender spine; eye small, 1),\^ iu head. cristiceps, 122(>. 



1222. PLECTROMUS SUBORBITALIS, Gill. 



Head 3 ; depth 2j. D. Ill, 16 ; A. I, 8 ; P. 14 ; V. I, 7 ; scales about 30-6: 

 the exposed margins of the few scales present marked with coarse concen- 

 tric striiP. Eye as long as snout and 5^ times in head. Mouth oblique ; end 

 of maxillary reaching to below hind margin of orbit. Two spines, one on 

 each side of the nape, springing forward from the shoulder bones. Man- 

 dible projecting slightlj\ Gill membranes deeply cleft, free from the isth- 

 mus behind; gill rakers moderate, about 15 below angle of first arch. A 

 single series of weak, somewhat scattered, curved teeth on the intermax- 

 illa and mandible. Dorsal origin over the sixth row of scales ; length of 

 dorsal base equal to head. Anal origin under seventeenth ray of dorsal; 

 anal base nearly \ as long as head. Pectoral 3i in body ; ventral inserted 

 under base of pectoral. Color black. The type of the species, 3y,f inches 

 long without the caudal, was obtained by the Albatross from Station 2036, 

 at a depth of 1,735 fathoms. Another (No. 35451, U. S. Nat. Mus.) was 



almost vertical; the cranium above with a naked skin extending from the nape forward to the 

 nasal region, covering large muciferous cavities separated by osseous bars and with lateral crests 

 simulating those of crosted Scorpa^nids. Suborbital bones with the superficial a ea narrow and 

 emitting sulcate spiniform processes; cheeks covered with skin as well as periorbital region. 

 I'rcoperculuni wifli its inner fold parallel with, but widely separated from, the external margin; 

 the latter is rounded at the angle, the posterior limb is vertical, and a short horizontal one is 

 developed. Operculum normally developed, with largo cycloid scales, and, behind, radiating 

 ridges; suboperculum extending as a membranous border behind; interoperculuni moderate. 

 Eye moderate (its diameter ei|naling a quarter of the head's length) and entirely in the anterior 

 half of the head. Mouth with the cleft moderately oblique. Upper jaw not i)rotractile; the 

 InterMiiixillaries protracted backward alnioi^t as far as the supramaxillaries; the latter have nor- 

 mally dilated smooth ends. Lower jaw (luite deep, curv(^d, with smooth skin, with the rami 

 hirlined inward below and nearly contiguous, aud with a truncate chin. Teeth rather small, 

 curved, anil pointed, in two rows iu each jaw, those of the upper closing arouml the lower jaw, 

 and the teeth of the external row (at least iu the lower jaw) smaller than those of the internal. 

 Branchial apertures normally cleft. Shoulder girdle emitting a spine oa each side, behind the 

 nape. 



