92 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.85 



interorbital. Mouth wide, nearly horizontal. Teeth in villiforin 

 bands in jaws, on vomer and palatines. Tongue large, spatulate. 

 Opercle with 3 spines. Angle of preopercle with feeble spines. Gill 

 membranes free from isthmus. Gills 4. Pseudobranchiae large. 

 Pyloric caeca 3. Scales cycloid or feebly ctenoid. Lateral line com- 

 plete, its anterior scales keeled or feebly spinate. Small spine on 

 shoulder girdle. First dorsal short, well separated from second. 



BEMBROPS FILIFER, new species 



Figure 42 



Depth 81/2; head 2%, width 2%. Snout 314 in head from snout 

 tip; eye 3%? 1% "i snout; maxillary reaches I/5 ii^ eye, ends in 

 pointed fleshy flap behind % of eye, expansion 314 in eye, length of 

 bone 2% in head from snout tip; villi form bands of teeth in jaws 

 much broader above, 2 vomerine clusters rounded and well separated, 

 and each palatine band long and narrow ; nostrils small, well sep- 

 arated, with middle of interval separating them middle of snout 

 length. Gill rakers 6 + 15. lanceolate, equal gill filaments or I/3 of 

 eye; 3 or 4 of upper and lower gill rakers short rudimentary tu- 

 bercles. Preopercle with short spine at angle and another similar 

 close above. Of 3 opercular spines uppermost curved u])ward and 

 lowermost curved down, also most in advance. Small suprascapular 

 spine slightly before uppermost opercular. Opercular flap long, 

 pointed, extends back over front of pectoral. 



Scales 50 + 2 in lateral line, which well decurved over front of anal, 

 ascends posteriorly, though slightly below^ middle along side of caudal 

 peduncle to caudal base; 3 above at front of spinous dorsal, 6 above 

 at front of soft dorsal, 5 below to front of anal. Scales on breast, 

 belly and under surfaces small. Caudal with nearly basal half scaly. 

 Pectoral base finely scaly. Maxillary scaly. Cheek with 5 or 6 rows 

 of scales, of which uppermost and lowermost much smallest. Lat- 

 eral line with large, simple tubes, all well exposed. Scales with 27 

 or 28 basal radiating striae; row of 23 to 25 subequal, short apical 

 denticles ; circuli fine, terminate apically at scale edge. 



D. VI-1, 13, 1, first spine ending in short filament not quite reaching 

 soft dorsal origin, its length 2% in total head length; A. 16, i, first 

 ray 614, fifteenth ray 5; caudal 214, convex behind; least depth of 

 caudal peduncle 6% ; pectoral 1%. rays 11, 27; ventral rays I, 5, fin 2% 

 in total head length. 



Brown, little paler below. On back and upper surfaces edges of 

 each scale pocket blackish brown, showing through overlapping scale 

 as dark reticulation. Along side of body, below lateral line row of 

 8 to 10 obscure rather large brown blotches. Iris grayish. Dorsals 

 and anals with dark or blackish brown membranes, fin ravs all more 



