THE SHORE FISHES OF PERU 315 



ventral outline little convex anteriorly; head deep, compressed, 

 swollen in front of eyes; caudal peduncle compressed, rather slender, 

 3.6, 3.6 in head; snout long, 1.6, 1.7; eye 4.0, 4.6; interorbital 4.1, 3.7; 

 suborbital very broad, 2.4, 2.3; mouth placed low, terminal, nearly 

 horizontal; maxillary scarcely reaching vertical from front of eye, 

 2.1, 2.25 in head; jaws anteriorly each with six to eight slender canines, 

 with a patch of smaller pointed teeth behind them, a double row of 

 very strong, low blunt teeth in each jaw inside and posterior to the 

 front teeth; gill rakers very short, broad, about six somewhat devel- 

 oped on lower and three on upper limb of first arch; scales rather 

 large, cycloid or at most very wealdy ctenoid, the row^s above lateral 

 line parallel with it, five rows between it and base of first dorsal, and 

 only three at base of first soft ray of dorsal, five vertical rows on 

 cheek, scales formmg a low sheath at base of soft dorsal and anal, 

 and extending on caudal, and somewhat on base of pectoral; dorsal 

 fin continuous, the fourth spine longest, 2.6, 2.0 in head; caudal forked, 

 the upper lobe longest; anal small, the spines moderately slender, 

 the second about as long as the third, but no stronger, apparently 

 variable in length, 4.8, 3.8 in head; ventral mserted well behind base 

 of pectoral, with a very long pointed axillary scale, and with a slender 

 spine, 2.7, 1.9 in head; pectoral long, the fourth ray (counting dowTi- 

 ward) produced, longer than head, 2.8 to 3.0 in length. 



Color of the old preserved specunens at hand plain grayish bro%ATi 

 to yellow^ish straw color below; scaleless part of head rather dark 

 brown; membranous margin of opercle dark; axil of pectoral dark; 

 fins otherwise about of same color as body. The specimen described 

 from Paita by Jordan and Evermann (see reference above) had faint 

 dark cross bands. 



This species is included solely on the record by Jordan and Ever- 

 mann (see reference above), who reported a specimen from Paita, 

 Peru, but failed to state in which mstitution the specimen is preserved. 

 This species has not been taken by recent collectors in Peru. It is 

 here described from two specimens (U.S.N.M. Nos. 50080, 50081) 

 from South Seymour Island, Galapagos, respectively 385 and 340 

 mm. (298 and 257 mm. to base of caudal) long. In the description 

 the proportions and enumerations based on the smaller specimen in 

 each instance are given first. 



Range. — Galapagos Islands and Paita, Peru, 



Family KYPHOSIDAE: Rudderfishes 



Body elongate or ovate, compressed; head short, blunt; mouth 

 moderate or small; outer teeth in jaws more or less incisorlike, fre- 

 quently movable, no molars, teeth present or absent on vomer and 

 palatines; gills 4; scales small or moderate, usually present on entire 

 body except snout; dorsal fin continuous, with 10 to 15 spines; anal 



