NO. 136.\ THE AGOXID.K OF JAPAN— JORDAN AND .STAJiKK 593 



dorsal rays i39; caudal 36; upper ra\' of pectoral r»8; longest ventral 

 ray (.seventh) 3<> mm. 



The body elongated, anguUir; the head irregularly triangular as 

 viewed from above; the mouth entireh* inferior, crescent-shaped, 

 wide, the lower jaw^ shutting l)ehind the upper ])y the distance equal 

 to two-thirds the longitudinal dituneter of the eye; a few teeth along 

 the sides of the upper jaw. Nilliform teeth in the lower jaw; no pala- 

 tine or vomerine teeth. A ])atch of bai-bels below the snout in front 

 of the mouth, a patch of fewer ones at the symphysis of the mouth. 

 A pair of short rostral spines pointing forward: another pair of 

 slightlj' larger spines pointing upward, backward, and slightly out- 

 ward is seen a little ])ehind the base of the rostral spines. These 

 second series of spines form the front edge of the ridges which )>ound 

 the elongated groove, in the middle of which is a sharp spine; the 

 ridges approach each other until they meet at halfway between the 

 nostril and the anterior border of the eye, where they end in a pair of 

 shaip spines pointing upward, backward, and outward. A pair of 

 large spines above the posterior border of the eye, and a pair of large 

 ones at the occiput, which is continuous with the spine a)>ove the eye 

 b}^ a sharp ridge; a curved ridge running from the superior rim and 

 ending in a small spine just above the opercle; two small spines along 

 this ridge, the anterior one rather sharp, and the posterior broad, and 

 lies midway between the supraorbital spine and the supraopercular 

 spine; a ridge on the suborbital continuous from the rostrum along 

 the lower edge of the preorbitals and ending in a rather sharp spine 

 on the lower third of the suborbital below the middle point of the eye; 

 this ridge is high and fine serrated on the greater part of the preorbi- 

 tals and with a spine directed outward. The interorbital space 

 slightly more than the vertical diameter of the eye, deeply concave, 

 with a pair of ridges on each side, converging forward; a diagonal 

 dei)ression on the occiput, traversed b}- a rather broad transverse 

 ridge. Dorsal ridges converging from the occiput to behind the soft 

 dorsal, uniting on the second plate ))ehind the base of the last dorsal ray, 

 continued as a single ridge on about 8 plates, where it becomes obsolete; 

 the upper lateral ridge follows the course of the lateral line to the 

 ninth plate, where the latter slants downwsird and outward as parallel 

 rows to the base of the tail; the lower lateral ridge runs parallel with 

 and converging anterioily with the upper, and becomes obsolete on 

 the second plate behind the base of the pectoral; a single spine above 

 the base of the pectoral indicating an obsolete ridge between the 

 lateral ridges; abdominal ridges widely apart in front between the 

 pectoral fins, uniting l)ehind the anal, and run backward till to the 

 base of the caudal, where it becomes nearly ol)solete; all ridges with 

 sharp, recurved spines with the exception of the abdominal ridges 

 behind the eighth anal ray. wheiv the dorsal and anal rays disai)peai" 



