124 BULLETIlSr 95, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



150. BODIANUS DIPLOTAENIUS (Gill). 

 GALLO. 



Harpe diplotaenia Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1S62, p. 140 ; Cape San 

 Lucas. — Jordan, Fishes of Sinaloa, Proc. California Acad. Sci., ser. 2, 

 vol. 5, 1895, p. 480. — Jobdan and Eveemann, Fishes North and Mid. 

 Amer., vol. 2, 1S9S, p. 1582. — Gilbert and Starks, Fishes of Panama 

 Bay, Mem. California Acad. Sci., vol. 4, 1904, p. 144. 



Bodiamis diplotaenius Snodgrass and Heller, Shore Fishes of the Gala- 

 pagos Islands, Proc. Washington Acad. Sci., vol. 6, 1905, p. 391. 



Two specimens, field Xos. 09439 and 09683, respectively 17.5 and 

 34 cm. long, from Lobos de Afuera. 



Head 3.03 in length; depth 2.93; eye 6.35 in head; snout 2.4; 

 interorbital 3.42; pectoral 1.53; ventral 1.64; D. XII, 11; A. Ill, 13; 

 scales 5-33-12. 



Body compressed; head short; snout concave, becoming convex 

 over eyes ; fleshy pad on forehead little developed ; mouth moderate, 

 maxillary scarcely reaching vertical from front of eye; lips fleshy, 

 lower lip with a flap on each side; upper jaw with four long, strong, 

 pointed canines in front; behind these small granular teeth, some- 

 what coalescent and forming a single row posteriorly, those at back 

 of jaws enlarged, canine-like; at extreme posterior end a long pointed 

 canine tooth, bent forward; teeth of lower jaw similar, irregular, no 

 canine at posterior end of jaw; vertical border of preopercle with 

 fine denticulations; dorsal spines low, strong, covered with membrane, 

 membranes incised nearly to base of fins, a rounded fleshy flap cov- 

 ering the spines extending for some distance beyond the tips of the 

 spines; middle rays of dorsal filamentous 1.5 in head; caudal lu- 

 nate; anal similar to soft dorsal; ventrals moderate, not reaching 

 vent; pectoral short and broad; pectoral base a little in advance of 

 ventrals; scales large, regular in arrangement, dorsals and anal 

 sheathed; top of head, snout, and oral region scaleless; cheeks and 

 opercles scaly. 



Color in alcohol, olivaceous, scales margined with brown; a dark 

 brown band extending from tip of snout through eye, where it 

 divides into two bands, the upper extending obliquely upward and 

 backward to dorsal surface of caudal peduncle, where it is joined 

 with its fellow by two dark-brown saddles; the second horizontal 

 and ending on caudal peduncle, not to base of caudal; these bands 

 not continuous but interrupted, formed by a series of rectangular 

 dark-brown blotches, most distinct posteriorly; on the base of the 

 caudal, above and below the lateral line, are two rectangular brown 

 areas; top of head mottled; vertical fins brown and yellow; ven- 

 trals dusky yellow; pectoral yellow, tipped with black. Descrip- 

 tion based on an individual 34 cm. long, from Lobos de Afuera. 

 Color in life : Of graceful form and delicate blend of colors. Poste- 



