NEW COTTOID FISHES — SCHULTZ 191 



concave; nasal spines prominent with a pair of tentacles on each 

 spine; teeth present on vomer, none on the palatines or possibly one 

 very weak tooth; body compressed, deep; skin smooth; lateral line 

 complete, with about 45 or 46 pores, and arched over the pectoral fin ; 

 no slit behind last gill ; anal papillae large, conical, without horns at 

 tip; vent in anterior portion of middle third of distance from pelvic 

 fins to the origin of the anal fin ; pelvic fin rays I, 3 ; bannerlike cirri 

 on tips of spinous dorsal rays ; one mibranched cirrus at each pore of 

 arch of lateral line, no cirri posteriorly; one pair of cirri on each 

 nasal spine, the inner cirrus the largest; a pair of branched dermal 

 cirri over the eyes ; another pair, unbranched, on occiput, about half 

 way from eye to origin of dorsal; a third pair about one-third the 

 distance back between the second pair and origin of dorsal ; no other 

 cirri on head; nostrils tubular; lower jaw slightly shorter than upper 

 jaw. 



Color in alcohol, pale yellowish, the body and head finely speckled 

 with tiny black dots, denser above, lighter below; a faint blackish 

 line extends from the last occipital tentacle forward and downward 

 toward uj)per edge of pupil ; in front of eye is a faint blackish band 

 about as wide as one-half the diameter of the eye, with a light streak 

 through the middle of the band and including the anterior nostril ; 

 this darkish band continues on to the tip of the snout; dorsal fin 

 slightly darker grayish than body, more intense near tips of rays; 

 there is a grayish spot about the size of the pupil at the base of the 

 seventh, eighth, or ninth soft dorsal ray ; one at the twelfth or four- 

 teenth, and sometimes another at the sixteenth or nineteenth; a large 

 grayish blotch occurs on the upper side of the caudal peduncle at 

 the rear end of the dorsal fin ; color plain without any trace of vertical 

 bars on body or fins. 



Sigmistes smithi differs from the only other member of the genus, 

 Sigmistes caulias Kutter,^ in having X, 24 dorsal fin rays and 17 to 

 19 anal fin rays instead of IX, 19 to 21 dorsal rays and 14 or 15 anal 

 rays, respectively, and a different color pattern. 



Named for Dr. Hugh M. Smith, in honor of his numerous valuable 

 contributions in ichthyology made over a long period of years. 



" Rutter, C. M., in Jordan and Evermann, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 47, pt. 3, pp. 2863-2864, 

 1898. 



U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 193S 



