NO. 14.S4. JAPANESE FLO UNDERS A ND SOLES— JORDAN ,{• STA RKS 1 G 7 



tropical waters being- wholly without them. All the species of Plato- 

 phrys are extremely closely related, and can be distinguished with diffi- 

 culty. On the other hand, the variations due to differences of age and 

 sex are greater than in any other of our genera. 

 [TtXcuTvg^ ])road; ofppvg^ eyebrow.) 



I. PLATOPHRYS MYRIASTER (Temminck and Schlegel). 



Rliomhus myriaster TEMMiyiCK and Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, Poiss., 1846, p. 181, 



pi. xcii, fig. 2 (Nagasaki). 

 • Ehoviboid'ichthys mi/riastcr Bleekeh, Act. Soc. Ind. Nederl., I. Manado and 



Macassar, p. 67 (Celebes); Atlas, Pleuron., pi. ix, fig. 4 (Celebes). — Gunther, 



Cat, IV, 1864, p. 436 (Celebes; China).— Ishikawa and Matsu'Ora, Prel. 



Cat., 1897, p. 25 (Kagoshima). 

 Platophrys myriaster Jordan and Snyder, CJheck-List Fish, Japan, 1901, {). 122. — 



Jordan and Evermann, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., XXV, p. 865 (Keerun, 



Formosa). 



Habitat. — Southern Japan, southward to China, Formosa, and the 

 East Indies; north to the island of Kiusiu. 



Head, 4} in length to base of caudal; depth. If; upper eye, 3 J, in 

 head; maxilhay, 3f ; snout, 4i; interorbital space, 3; dorsal, 94; anal, 

 71; scales, 104. 



Body rather broad; the anterior upper outline a short, even curve, 

 becoming nearly vertical in front of eyes; snout somewhat projecting, 

 its upper outline not continuous with that of head; mouth arched; 

 each jaw with a row of sharp, slender, recurved teeth, outside of which 

 toward front is another row of more irregular stouter but shorter 

 teeth; maxillary reaching very slightly past anterior rim of lower 

 orbit; interorbital broad and concave, rising on each side to a high, 

 smooth orbital rim; middle of upper eye over posterior edge of lower 

 eye; a slight projection near tip of snout on blind side; gillrakers very 

 short and l)lunt, 6 developed on lower limb of arch, only very small 

 tubercles above. 



Origin of dorsal just above snout, a little below the level of super- 

 orbital rim of lower eye; longest dorsal rays equal to those of anal; 

 their length, 2^ in head; pectoral long and very slender; its length, 1 jV 

 in head; caudal double truncate; arch of lateral line small, its length 

 twice as great as its height, and contained (5 times in straight part of 

 lateral line or two times in head. Scales very small and everywhere 

 cycloid except a definite area at base of dorsal and anal tins, which is 

 roughly ctenoid; at al)out middle of fins this area is 3 or 4 scales deep, 

 but it tapers at each end and disappears. Scales on opercles, cheeks, 

 posterior half of interorbital space and top of head to front of upper 

 eye; front of head, snout, and mandible naked. 



Color, rather light brown, everywhere on head and body with small 

 brown spots ringed with light brown, lighter than ground-color, and 

 light-blue spots ringed with dark ])rown; an irregular, blended, dark- 



