the same as described for Parahollardia lineata, the dif- 

 ference being only that when the erected spine is return- 

 ed to its unerected position it can have its flange, after 

 the latter is out of contact with the ventrolateral edge of 

 the pelvis, stopped by the oblique groove on the lateral 

 surface of the pelvis, permitting the second or partial 

 position of erection of the spine. 



Fin rays. — No pelvic fin rays have been found in 

 any of the cleared and stained specimens or in other 

 specimens examined closely in the pelvic axil but not 

 cleared and stained. However, this is perhaps partially 

 attributable to the relatively large size of the specimens 

 examined, as explained in Tyler (1968:290), for a single 

 rudimentary fin ray is present in the young of some 

 species of triacanthids, the ray being resorbed in adults. 



VERTEBRAL COLUMN. —All vertebrae with bicon- 

 cave centra, except the last, which ends posterodorsally 

 in the urostyle. 



Abdominal Vertebrae. 



First vertebra. — Neural spine thick, the left and 

 right halves meeting above the neural canal to come into 

 close apposition and interdigitation posteromedially; 

 from this point of meeting the neural spine spreads 

 anterolaterally to form the posterior half of the walls of 

 the bony well surrounding the ventral end of the stout 

 shaft of the first basal pterygiophore of the spiny dorsal 

 fin, the well also forming a bony roof over the neural 

 canal in this region. The anterolateral edge of the neural 

 arch and lower region of the neural spine articulate by 

 extensive interdigitation with the exoccipital and, in 

 some cases, with the extreme posteroventral edge of the 

 epiotic as well, but the articulation is mainly to the exoc- 

 cipital. Over the anterior third of the neural arch region 

 just above the centrum, the first vertebra extensively in- 

 terdigitates with the short and irregularly shaped exoc- 

 cipital condyles that overlie this region. The rim of the 

 concave anterior end of the centrum of the first vertebra 

 articulates with the rim of the concave posterior end of 

 the basioccipital. Posteriorly the first vertebra ar- 

 ticulates with the second vertebra by apposition of the 

 rims of their centra and by the short and bluntly rounded 

 neural postzygapophysis of the first vertebra slightly 

 overlying the neural prezygapophyseal area of the second 

 vertebra. No haemal zygapophyses are present. 



Other abdominal vertebrae. — In 21 specimens the 

 abdominal vertebrae numbered eight. All of the ab- 

 dominal vertebrae, as well as the caudal vertebrae, have 

 a bony roof over the neural canal and a single undivided 

 neural spine. The neural spine of the second abdominal 

 vertebra is of about the same size as that of the first, 

 while the neural spines of the third and subsequent 

 vertebrae are longer than those of the first two ab- 

 dominal vertebrae and of approximately the same size. 

 The last abdominal vertebra has its neural prezy- 

 gapophysis overlying the neural postzygapophyseal area 



of the preceding vertebra. No haemal pre- or post- 

 zygapophyses are present. Each neural arch has a neural 

 foramen along the middle of its lateral surface. The first 

 three abdominal vertebrae have no transverse or haemal 

 processes, but the fourth to last abdominal vertebrae 

 variously have transverse processes or haemal arches and 

 spines which bear the intermuscular bones. These trans- 

 verse processes become more ventrally directed until 

 they eventually form complete haemal arches. The 

 processes of the fourth to sixth vertebrae are incomplete, 

 whereas those of the seventh and eighth vertebrae form 

 complete haemal arches with very short spines. Eight 

 epipleurals or intermuscular bones are present in the 

 myocommata between the epaxial and hypaxial mus- 

 culature, five borne on the fourth to eighth abdominal 

 vertebrae, followed in series by three others on the first 

 three caudal vertebrae. The epipleurals articulate basal- 

 ly by fibrous tissue with the lateral surfaces of the trans- 

 verse processes of the fourth to sixth abdominal 

 vertebrae and of the haemal arches and spines of the 

 seventh abdominal to third caudal vertebrae. 



Caudal Vertebrae. — In 21 specimens the caudal 

 vertebrae numbered 12. The haemal spine of the first 

 caudal vertebra articulates by fibrous tissue with the an- 

 terior surface of the dorsal one-fifth of the first anal fin 

 basal pterygiophore. The neural spine of the first caudal 

 vertebra is similar to that of the preceding vertebra, but 

 the other caudal vertebrae have progressively slightly 

 less long neural spines. The haemal spines similarly 

 decrease slightly in size from the second caudal vertebra 

 to the penultimate vertebra, which has its neural and 

 haemal spines of slightly increased length. The neural 

 prezygapophyses of the more Euiterior of the caudal 

 vertebrae overlie the neural postzygapophyseal area of 

 the preceding vertebrae. The haemal spines of the caudal 

 vertebrae support the anal fin basal pterygiophores by 

 fibrous tissue but do not make close contact with them. 

 The same is true of the neural spines of the abdominal 

 and caudal vertebrae that support the basal pteryg- 

 iophores of the soft dorsal fin. With the exception of the 

 last vertebra, each neural arch has a completely en- 

 closed neural foramen along the middle of the neural 

 arch region, and all have a bony roof over the neural and 

 haemal canals. All of the haemal arches and spines are 

 fused to their centra. 



Caudal Skeleton. —The parhypural and all but the 

 uppermost hypural are indistinguishably fused to the 

 last vertebral centrum. There is a free epural and a uro- 

 neural represented by a single solid piece, the two halves 

 of the uroneural apparently having fused together. The 

 low neural arch of the vertebral centrum bifurcates an- 

 teriorly but comes together in the midline over the neural 

 canal posteriorly. It is to this anterior bifurcate region 

 that the ventral end of the epural articulates by fibrous 

 tissue. The single free hypural is rodlike and articulates 

 along the oblique upper anterior edge of the fused hy- 

 pural plate, the anterior end of the free hypural being 

 just behind the posterior end of the short neural arch of 



