604 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxvii. 



loosely joined to each other by a ligament between the tips of the inner 

 forks. The anal is very short. The vent is in front of the base of the 

 ventrals. 



The family Pemphericla? can not ])e admitted to tlic group. It shows 

 some relationship to the Bramida?, and possibly belongs near that 

 family. The orbitosphenoids are al)sent. The oxoccipitals are broadly 

 united, but the basioccipital and atlas are unmodified, and the pit of 

 each is deep and located at the center. The maxillary has no supple- 

 mental bone. The ventral soft rays number 5. The pelvic ghxWo is 

 not compressed anteriorly but reaches to a sharp point, and is other- 

 wise as in the Percoid fishes. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF SKELETONS. 

 HOPLOSTETHUS JAPONICUS Hilgendorf. 



I'RANIUM. 



The cranium has very high ridges, the w^alls of which are pierced 

 bv large holes, allowing communication between the cavities. The 

 frontals above the middle of the orbital cavity, the bridge connecting 

 the frontal ridges, and a region at the middle of the nasals are thin 

 and honeycombed by small holes of irregular size, giving the bone a 

 lace-like texture. A high ridge beginning at the anterior median line 

 betw^een the frontals diverges and runs back to the posterior end of 

 each frontal above the parietal. A ridge curves back on each frontal 

 from the anterior outer angle to the posterior end below the parietal, 

 and is connected at about its middle to the upper frontal ridge by a 

 wide horizontal bridge. Posteriorly between these ridges, and from 

 the end of the connecting bridge, is a ridge running to the end of the 

 parietal. A median ridge on the nasals runs forward from the median 

 frontal ridge and diverges in front. From the anterior end of this 

 ridge a ridge runs outward and backw^ard on each nasal and forks near 

 its middle, the anterior fork running to the side of the nasal, the 

 posterior one to the posterior outer angle. The auditory bulla is large 

 and has a very large cartilaginous area bounded by the parasphenoid, 

 the exoccipital, the basioccipital, the opistholic, and the prootic. The 

 myodome is large, but its mouth is somewhat constricted. 



The basioccipital spreads very wide over the lower surface of the 

 auditory bulhe. Its posterior end forms about half of the occipital 

 condyle. The pit is near its upper edge. The supraoccipital does not 

 project between the posterior ends of the frontals. Its crest does not 

 extend above the rest of the cranium. The epiotic is but slightly 

 covered by the parietal. It has no shelf projecting backw^ard. The 

 pterotic has a pair of rather sharp outward-projecting processes. 

 The opisthotic is thickened, and the lower limb of the posttemporal 

 is articulated closely to it without the agency of a ligament. The 

 frontals end squarely in front, and do not extend beyond the pre- 



