358 BULLETIN 189, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Body robust anteriorly, compressed posteriorly; head large, broader 

 than deep, depressed above; snout very short, broad, 5.5 to 6.8 in 

 head; eye 9.0 to 16.5; interorbital 4.2 to 5.2; mouth vertical; lips 

 fringed, the longest fringes fully as long as eye; maxillary nearly 

 twice as broad as eye, 2.2 to 2.5 in head; teeth all pointed, in a rather 

 broad band on upper jaw, on vomer, and palatines, rather larger and 

 in a very narrow band anteriorly in lower jaw, reduced to a single 

 series laterally ; anterior nostril round, surrounded by fringes ; posterior 

 nostril with a long curved groove on interorbital, abruptly turned 

 forward behind eye, bordered with fringes throughout its length, 

 forming an "eyebrow"; two blunt spines in front of eye entering 

 premaxillary groove, forked portion of the Y on head shorter than 

 rest of Y ; gill rakers undeveloped ; lateral line ascending from shoulder 

 to base of spinous dorsal, running along base of dorsal fins, descending 

 rather abruptly on caudal peduncle to middle of base of caudal, then 

 curved forward on lower half of base of caudal ; many pores on head ; 

 scales small, rather irregular, in very oblique series running downward 

 and backward, missing on head, abdomen, and chest; a fold of skin on 

 midline between bases of ventrals and vent ; dorsal fins close together, 

 the first with short, stiff, sharp spines, the longest 3.9 to 5.9 in head, 

 its origin over, or slightly behind, base of upper rays of pectoral, its 

 distance from margin of snout 2.8 to 3.0 in length; second dorsal much 

 higher than the first, the longest rays more than twice as long as the 

 longest spines, the margin strongly convex; caudal as long as postorbit- 

 al part of head in small specimens, rather shorter in large ones, its 

 margin convex in small examples, nearly straight in large ones; anal 

 long, highest posteriorly, its origin about under that of second dorsal, 

 its base extending well beyond that of second dorsal, 1.3 to 1.4 in 

 head; ventrals close together, inserted on isthmus, far in advance of 

 pectorals, the inner ray longest, 1.15 to 1.25 in head; pectoral large, 

 reaching well beyond origin of anal, often nearly as long as head, 2.75 

 to 3.0 in length. 



Color grayish above; dirty white underneath; lower part of side 

 glistening silvery gray in the small specimens ; upper surface of head 

 and back to end of second dorsal with many pale round spots, some 

 of the largest ones surrounded by dark rings; chin largely dusky to 

 black, more conspicuous in small specimens than in large ones, 

 spinous dorsal black; second dorsal pale, with a dark blotch on outer 

 two-thirds anteriorly, and another posteriorly; caudal with alter- 

 nating dark and pale horizontal bands; anal and pectoral somewhat 

 dusky, the former quite dark at base, the margin pale in small speci- 

 mens; ventral pale. 



This species is represented in the collection made by the Mission 

 by four specimens, a large one 300 mm. (232 mm. to base of caudal) 

 long, from Cabo Blanco, taken with a trammel net, and three small 

 ones, respectively 85, 88, and 91 mm. (64, 67, and 68 mm. to base of 



