THE SHORE FISHES OF PERU 395 



longer than soft part, all the rays or nearly all of them spinous in some 

 of the genera; caudal usually free, with about 13 principal rays; anal 

 long, with 1 or 2 weak spines; ventral fins jugular, with a small spine 

 and 3 or 4 simple rays; pectoral rather large, with a broad base.^^ 



KEY TO THE GENERA 



a. Scales present; lateral line present, complete; 1 or 2 rows of tentacles at nape; 



maxillary extending under eye Labrisomus (p. 395) 



aa. Scales missing; no lateral line; no tentacles at nape; maxillary extending 

 beyond posterior margin of eye Emblemaria (p. 403) 



Genus LABRISOMUS Swainson, 1839 



Body oblong, rather robust; head compressed, though often broader 

 than trunk, becoming deeper and blunter with age in some species; 

 premaxillaries protractile; mouth moderately large; each jaw with a 

 series of rather prominent teeth near outer rim, generally followed 

 anteriorly by a band of minute teeth; vomer, and usually palatines, 

 with teeth; gill membranes united, and free from the isthmus; lateral 

 line complete, curved anteriorly; anterior nostril with a tuft of tenta- 

 cles, upper posterior part of eye with a few to a dozen or more tentacles; 

 nape usually with 1 or 2 rows of tentacles (few or missing in micro- 

 cirrhis); scales small, cycloid, generally missing on head, usually 

 encroaching on vertical fins in adults; dorsal fin long, composed of 

 about 18 to 25 spines, and 11 to 13 soft rays in Peruvian species; anal 

 long, with 2 spines and about 18 to 23 soft rays; caudal separate from 

 dorsal and anal, rounded or truncate. 



Four species are included in the collections from Peru available for 

 study, one of which appears to be new.^^ 



2» Cope (1877, p. 26) described a blenny from Pacasmayo Bay, Peru, which he named Blennms tetranemus. 

 I am unable to determine from the description whether it belongs to the Blenniidae or to the Clinidae, and 

 no specimens identifiable with the description are included in the Peruvian collections studied. The fin 

 formulae at least suggest Clinidae. The description that follows, apparently based chiefly on a specimen 

 73 mm. long, was modified after the original. No further mention will be made of this species. Head 3.5; 

 depth 4.0; D. XIX, 13; A. II, 18; P. 13. Eye a little more than a fourth the length of head; interorbital 

 narrow, deeply grooved; a transverse groove behind orbits; only 1 of 7 specimens with a pair of curved teeth 

 behind premaxillaries; none on lower jaw; a slender tentacle behind nostril, and a long one over posterior 

 part of orbit, deeply split into 4 subequal portions, no fringes at its base or behind orbit; origin of dorsal 

 above margin of preopercle, many of the rays of subequal length; an open notch between the first and the 

 more elevated second dorsal. Color light brown; sides marbled with darker brown; 7 quadrate spots along 

 base of dorsal; sides of head speckled with dark brown; a large brown spot behind eye, separating 2 wide 

 light bars, one extending back and the other downward and backward from eye; dorsal with obscure brown 

 shades; anal dusky, with a light margin. 



28 Cuvier and Valencieimes (1836, p. 383) described Clinus peruvianus from a drawing. It was based on a 

 blenny with scales, and probably has been correctly referred to Labrisomus by authors. No specimens 

 studied are identifiable with this species. The description contains little that is diagnostic, other than the 

 number of fin rays, which are given as follows: D. XVIII, 11; A. 23, probably II, 21; C. 11; P. 10; V. 2. Even 

 these may not have been correctly shown in the drawing. One may especially question the small number 

 of pectoral rays, which is quite out of line with the species of this genus from the west coast of America 

 represented in the collection of the U. S. National Museum. Because of the probable inaccuracies in the 

 description, no further mention of Clinus perui'ianus will be made. 



