18S6.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 51 



aliout to end of pectoral, each 1)010 with a short, simple branch above 

 and below, directed outward and backward. Some conspicuous pores 

 radiating from eye. 



Dorsal tin low, subcontinuous, the spines rather slender, lower than 

 the soft rays, tbe middle spines not much higher than the last. Long- 

 est rays of dorsal about half as long as head. Caudal free from dorsal 

 and anal, a little shorter than head. Anal low. Pectorals slightly 

 longer than head. Yentrals 1^^ in head. The fins are somewhat shriv- 

 elled, so that the count of the rays is made with difldculty and may not 

 be perfectly exact. 



Color very dark olive-brown, paler below. Head and anterior half 

 of body plain ; posterior half sprinkled with sharply-defined dots of a 

 vivid sky-blue color, becoming white in alcohol. About six obscure 

 round darker blotches in a longitudiual series along sides posteriorly. 

 Fins dusky olive, mottled with darker, the caudal obscurely barred, 

 the anal with a pale edge. Spinous dorsal, nearly black. 



A single specimen given me by a fisherman. 



If the genera Isesthes and HypleurocMlus are to be retained as distinct 

 from Blennius, this species will form the type of a fourth group, Scar- 

 tella {auaSTi/c, a leaper), having the free gill membranes of Blennius 

 and the even teeth of IsestJies. 



BROTULIDiE. 



190. Brotula barbata Bloch. Brdtula. 



PLEURONECTIDiE. • 



191. Platophrys lunatus L. Lcnguado. 



Color dark olive, with many rings, partial rings, curved spots, and 

 small round spots of sky-blue, edged with darker on body, these largest 

 near middle of sides, where some of them are as large as the eye. Three 

 obscure blackish blotches on straight part of lateral line. Head and 

 vertical fins with sharply-defined blue spots, which are mostly round. 

 Spots on oi)ercle and interopercle larger and curved. Pectorals with 

 dusky cross-bars. 



Profile in advance of eyes not prominent, slightly concave, forgiing a 

 conspicuous re en' rant angle with the projecting snout. !N"o spines on 

 preorbital in either sex. Snout with a blunt projection in the male. 

 Pectoral filamentous in the male, shorter in the female, the interorbital 

 space rather narrower in the latter. Teeth small, in one irregular series 

 in each jaw. 



Dors.d rays about 93; A. 70. About 90 tubes in lateral line. Head, 

 3^ in length; depth, 2. Maxillary, 3 in head. Arch of lateral line about 

 half length of head, its chord three times its height. 



192. Platophrys ellipticus Poey. 



A secoiul .species of Platophrys probably corresponds to Poey's ellipti- 

 cus, although its coloration differs somewhat from Poey's description, 



