248 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxvii. 



8. STELGISTRUM Jordan and Gilbert. 



Stelgistrum. Jordan and Gilbert, Fish. Bering Sea, in Fnr Seal Invest, for 1896- 

 97, III, 1899, p. 456 {stejne<jcri) . 



Body formed as in Hemilepidotus. Gill inenibraiies wideh^ joined 

 across the throat, wholh' free from the isthmus. Teeth on jaws and 

 vomer, none on pahitines. No slit or pore behind last gill. Upper 

 preopercular spine simple, gently upcurved, 3 short spines below it. 

 No opercular rib or spine. Nasal spines short and strong. Vertex 

 without spines or ridges and without long tentacles. Spinous dorsal 

 without anterior notch, the vertical tins all few-rayed. A series of 

 plates along lateral line and a band along the back which merges 

 anteriorly into the mass of minute plates covering to[) and sides of 

 head. Veiitrals I, 3, without sette. Vent immediately before origin 

 of anal. 



[ffTsXyiaTiJov^ scraper.) 



8. STELGISTRUM STEJNEGERI Jordan and Gilbert. 



Stelgistrum fitejuegeri Jordan and Gilbert, Fislu Bering Sea, in Kept. Fur Seal 

 Invest, for 1896-97, III, 1899, p. 456, pi. liv; Robben Island (coll. Alba- 

 tross). — Jordan and Evermann, Fish. N. and ^I. Amer., II, 1898, p. 1921; 

 Robben Island. 



Head 3| in length; depth 3f. D. IX-IT; A. 13; P. 16; caudal with 

 9 divided rays; lateral line with •!<> plates; lower series of dorsal band 

 containing 35 to 38 plates. Head narrowly wedge-shaped, tapering 

 upward; width below eyes equaling length of snout and one-half eye; 

 width at preopercles equaling depth at occiput. Mouth large, slight!}' 

 oblique, the wide maxillary reaching vertical behind pupil, equaling 

 length of snout and eye, i length of head. Teeth small, uniform, in 

 narrow bands on jaws and vomer; i)alatines toothless. A deep naked 

 transverse groove between nasal spines and front of orbits; orbital 

 rims moderately elevated, the interorbital space very narrow, chan- 

 neled; occiput flat or slightly concave, angulated along lines running 

 backward from orbits, but without spines or ridges; a slender lila- 

 ment above each eye; '2 minute pairs along sides of occiput, 1 on sub- 

 orbital stav, 1 on maxillary, and a few on plates of lateral line; no 

 nasal cirri, none along edge of preopercle; upper preopercular spine 

 gently curved upward, without cusps or processes; below it 3 short 

 spines, the first directed backward, the second vertically downward, 

 the third, somewhat longer, directed downward and forward. Eyes 

 small, the diameter equaling length of snout, one-fourth length of 

 head measured to end of opercular flap; interorbital width equaling 

 diameter of pupil. Straight portion of lateral line longer than the 

 obliquely placed anterior portion, which is not strongly curved; plates 

 of lateral line strongly spinous on their upper free edges, and of simi- 

 lar and nearly equal size throughout; dorsal band continued on to 



