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PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



VOL. XXVII. 



preopercular spine; depth of head at occiput equaling- one-half its 

 length. Mouth large, the lower jaw included, but less conspicuously 

 overlapped than in Jf. jaol:, the maxillary reaching bej^ond the eye, 

 2i in head. Lips ver}^ thick and fleshy in adults, the inner margin of 

 each with a dense band of line papillae; lower lip may also bear exter- 

 nally a few papilla? or short tilaiiients; a fleshy slip or fllament often 

 present on upper posterior angle of maxilla. Nasal spines pungent, 

 rather short; preopercle with two diverging spines at angle and a 

 third remote one below directed downward and forward; the upper 

 spine varying in length, but extending usuall}^ about halfwa}' to tip 

 of opercular spine; opercle with a strong rib and spine; humeral and 

 subopercular spines strong; interorbital width 5^ to 6 in head, gently 

 concave, its floor usuall}" with traces of two low ridges; a definite 

 supraorbital tentacle borne on the anterior end of the occipital ridge, 

 its basal tubercle never conspicuous; slender occipital tentacle often 

 present, especially in the young, but not infrequenth^ absent; ridges 



Fig. 21. — Myoxoc'ephalus stelleri. 



on occiput strong, often irregular or ]iartly interrupted, their surface 

 roughened with lengthwise lines or with clusters of granules; occiput 

 more deeply concave than in JL polycanthocephaluii; usually a cluster 

 of short digitate ridges behind the eye; top and sides of head with 

 small, warty protuberances. A minute pore behind last gill, to be 

 detected with difficulty in the young. Dorsals with short interspace 

 or none, the membrane from last spine usualh' joining base of first 

 soft ray; spinous dorsal very high in adult males, the fifth spine high- 

 est, one-half as long as head, longest soft ray 2| in head; pectorals 

 reaching front of anal, the ventrals not to vent; vertical fins 

 much lower in the j^oung. Skin smooth, without plates or spines 

 in young 7 or 8 inches long; 1 adult male of 14 inches with scattered 

 small subcircular spinous plates, all but a few of which are below the 

 lateral line. In the young, the maxillary and mandibular membranes 

 are whitish, very conspicuously marked with irregular, jet-black spots 

 and blotches; branchiostegal and gular membranes and the membrane 

 behind the preopercle crossed with narrow dark streaks; entire under 



