1T2 phoceedings of the national museum. youxxxh. 



The supraorbital rijii is but little produced, leaving the upper pro- 

 file of head nearly uniformly convex from first dorsal spine to tip of 

 snout; there is a slight notch in front and behind eye. Mouth very 

 oblique; the anterior end of premaxillary is si ightl}" above the level of 

 middle of eye; the maxillary scarcely reaches to below anterior margin 

 of pupil. Lower jaw bluntly rounded and projecting. Teeth in 

 broad bands on jaws, narrower on vomer, palatines toothless; bands 

 on premaxillaries not widened in front, those on mandible very 

 slightly widened. Interorbital with a pair of ridges slightly raised 

 above superorbital rim and having a wide shallow depression between, 

 which is closed behind by a transverse ridge bounding a slight trans- 

 verse depression across head in front of first dorsal spine. Superorbital 

 rim uneven and continuous posteriorly with a broken, very crooked 

 ridge; just below which are a couple of blunt tubercles forming a 

 broken ridge from upper posterior border of eye. Suborbitals with a 



^••t 



f4i^ 



Fig. 20.— Aploactis aspera. 



blunt, crooked ridge ending in the upper preopercle spine. Preorbital 

 ending posteriorly in a pair of very blunt, short spines and having a 

 similar spine on its anterior edge, which points down and forwards. 

 Preopercle with 5 spines, all blunt, the upper one the largest, the 

 others growing gradually smaller below. Opcrcle with 2 blunt spines 

 at the ends of slight ridges. Last gill arch Avithout a slit behind it. 

 Gill rakers scarce!}^ developed; 5 or 6 slight tubercles below angle of 

 first arch. 



Head and body completely covered with coarse, rather soft papillae, 

 which vary in size and abundance on different specimens; some- 

 times they are rather fine and scattered on head, and the blunt cranial 

 spines and ridges stand out prominently, sometimes they are so coarse 

 and abundant as to obscure the spines more or less. 



Pectoral reaching to opposite vent, its border rounded, having 13 

 simple rays. Ventrals short and with 1 spine and 2 rays, their length 



