ASPEO ZTXGET 



45 



either of these measurements is about one-seventh of the total leng-th. To- 

 wards the tail the body becomes more compressed than in the other species. 

 The head, which is rather long-, is flattened, and has the inflated snout pro- 

 jecting- over the mouth. The upper and lower lips are thickly set with papilla^, 

 which resemble teeth. The front row of dense teeth of the pre-maxillai-y bone 

 is strong-er, and the bands of teeth on the vomer and palatine bones are much 

 broader than in Aspro i-iilgaris. The mouth, which is horseshoe-shaped, 

 reaches back behind the hinder narine. The forward narine is the smaller, and 

 farthest from the eye, being placed midway between the anterior orbital border 

 and the extremity of the snout. The eyes are separated by something less 

 than the orbital diameter. This diameter is one-fifth of the leng-th of the 

 head, midway in which leng-th the eyes are placed. The pre-operculum is 



f^- 



//>>-. 



m-- 



Fi,^. 16. — ASPRO ZIXGEL 



finely-toothed along- its length, but its angles have larger dentieulations. The 

 operculum terminates in a strong spine which has a smaller spine beneath it. 

 Scales extend over the snout to near its end; they cover the top of the head, 

 the temporal region, and opercular bones, but there are no scales below the 

 eyes, on the jaws, cheeks, or throat. The upper scapiilar bone is finely 

 denticulated. 



The commencement of the first dorsal fin is opposite to the base of the 

 ventral fin ; its first ray is the shortest, the third to fifth are the longest, and 

 then the rays gradually decrease in length as they become more inclined 

 towards the back of the fin. Between the two dorsal fins is a small interspace 

 occupied by from three to five rows of scales. The second dorsal fin has a 

 longer base than the first dorsal. Its first spinous ray is its shortest ray. 

 Behind that are about twenty soft rays, of which the last ten are nearly equal 

 in length. The anal fin has a shorter base by two-fifths than the second 

 dorsal ; it commences opposite to the anterior limit of that fin ; its first ray is 

 the shortest, and the longest rays are nearly equal to those of the second dorsal. 

 The rays of the pectoral fin correspond in length with the terminal rays of the 



