560 BULLETIN 188, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



tes, Apocryptodon^ Parapocryptes^ and Ps&udapocryptes^ the other 

 (Boleophthalmi) comprising Boleophthalmus and Scartelaos. Jor- 

 dan (1923) placed Boleophthalmus and Scartelaos in the family Peri- 

 ophthalmidae and left the other genera in the Gobiidae, a course fol- 

 lowed by Herre (1927, p. 322). Koumans (1931, p. 128), guided no 

 doubt by Bleeker, made the subfamily Apocrypteinae for the reception 

 of all of the genera herein considered, and left the subfamily Perioph- 

 thalminae for the two genera herein placed in the Periophthalmidae. 



It is not a matter of great importance just what assignments and 

 groupings of these genera are proposed. For present purposes, and 

 in the opinion of the present writer, the relationships of the fishes are 

 perhaps best indicated by putting them in a separate family. The dis- 

 tinguishing characters of the genera are as follows : 



la. No free lower eyelid; eyes scarcely or not at all erectile above the dorsal 

 profile of the head (subfamily Apocrypteinae). 

 2a. Scales very minute, more than 200 in longitudinal series; teeth in both 

 jaws pointed ; a pair of canine teeth behind symphysis of lower jaw ; 



second dorsal fin with 28 to 31 rays Pseudapocryptes 



26. Scales larger, about 100 or less in longitudinal series. 

 3a. Teeth in lower jaw pointed ; anterior teeth in upper jaw caniniform ; a 

 pair of canine teeth behind symphysis of lower jaw ; about 80 scales 



in longitudinal series ParapocryTptes 



36. Teeth in lower jaw truncate, obtuse, or bilobate. 



4a. A pair of canine teeth behind symphysis of lower jaw ; teeth in lower 

 jaw truncate or bilobate. Anterior teeth of upper jaw caniniform; 

 scales in longitudinal series 40 to 60; second dorsal fin with 23 



or 24 rays Apocryptodon 



46. No canine teeth behind symphysis of lower jaw ; teeth in lower jaw 

 obtuse ; anterior teeth in upper jaw strongly canine ; scales in 

 longitudinal series 70 to 90 ; second dorsal fin with 24 to 27 rays. 



Apocryptichthys 

 16. A free lower eyelid; eyes erectile above the dorsal profile of the head (sub- 

 family Boleophthalminae). 

 5a. Teeth in lower jaw subhorizontal, flattened, and obliquely notched; 

 tongue truncate; scales (in local species) in longitudinal series 

 about 70 to 100 or somewhat more ; no barbels on lower jaw ; 

 second dorsal fin with 23 to 25 rays; dorsal and anal fin not 



united to caudal fin Boleophthalmus 



56. Teeth in lower jaw pointed, subhorizontal anteriorly, more erect 

 posteriorly : tongue rounded ; scales minute, more or less rudi- 

 mentary, somewhat larger posteriorly, often altogether absent on 

 head and anterior part of body ; a barbel on chin and a series of 

 small barbels on the upper lip and on the ramus of the lower jaw; 

 second dorsal fin with 25 to 29 rays; dorsal and anal fins joined 

 to base of caudal fin by a membrane Scartelaos; 



Genus PSEUDAPOCRYPTES Bleeker 



Pseudapocryptes Bleeker (453), Arch Neerl. Sci. Nat. vol. 9, p. 328, 1874. (Type, 

 Apocryptes lanceolatus Cantor.) 



