138 BULLETIN 189, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



mens. The posterior nostril has a raised indented membrane in the 

 former, which has smooth edges in the latter; and finally the Peruvian 

 specimen has no papilla on the lip between the nostrils and no evident 

 pore, whereas the California specimens have a prominent papilla 

 with a large pore at its base. The arrangement of the teeth is about 

 the same in all the specimens. However, the teeth are fewer and 

 blunter (perhaps worn) in the Peruvian eel, and the inner row in the 

 lower jaw is incomplete. 



The type of 0. rugifer also has been compared with the Peruvian 

 and Baja California specimens and apparently is 0. triserialis. It 

 is in rather close agreement with the specimens from Baja California. 



Range. — Southern California to northern Peru and the Galapagos 

 Islands. Also recorded from the tropical Atlantic. 



OPHICHTHUS GRANDIMACULATA (Kner and Steindachner) 



Anguila 



Ophichthys grandimaculaia Kner and Steindachner, 1866, p. 389, pi. 5, fig. 13, 

 coast of Peru (original description). — Gxjnther, 1870, p. 58, Peru (descrip- 

 tion, based on one of the type specimens, 24 inches long). 



Ophichthus grandimaculatus Abbott, 1899, p. 332 (reference). — Evermann and 

 Radcliffe, 1917, p. 24, Lobos de Tierra, Peru (references; description). — 

 Fowler, 1941a, p. 364 (references). 



Body rather slender, snakelike, somewhat deeper than broad; 

 head and trunk considerably shorter than tail, length anterior to vent 

 2.45 in total length; head compressed, its length anterior to gill 

 opening 9.7 in total length, 4.0 in length anterior to vent; depth 8.8 

 in length anterior to vent, 2.2 in head; snout fairly pointed, extend- 

 ing somewhat beyond mandible, 5.8 in head; eye lateral, 6.3 in head, 

 1.1 in snout; mouth large, the gape reaching well beyond the eye, 2.8 

 in head; teeth all pointed and directed backward, biserial laterally in 

 both jaws, upper jaw with 1 or 2 anteriorly on each side, the inner 

 row laterally beginning between the two nostrils, the outer row behind 

 second nostril, both rows continued to angle of mouth, vomer with 

 two pairs of teeth anteriorly, followed by a single row of 12 teeth, 

 becoming progressively smaller posteriorly; anterior nostril with a 

 well-developed tube, the posterior one without a tube but with a well- 

 raised membranous border; upper lip bilobed at tip and with a well- 

 developed papilla between the nostrils; gill opening nearly vertical, 

 about as long as snout; dorsal low, in a groove, its origin about over 

 midlength of pectoral, length anterior to its origin 3.0 in length anterior 

 to vent, extending within an eye's diameter to tip of tail; anal fin 

 similar to dorsal and co terminal with it; pectoral rather long and 

 narrow, 2.7 in head, 10.7 in length anterior to vent. 



Color of preserved specimen light brown, with large black spots on 

 body and tail, and numerous small ones on head; a row of black spots 



