20 SAtMONTD.^. 



inches. 



Greatest height of the dorsal 2 



Length of the pectoral 2| 



Distance between the root of the pectoral and the root 



of the ventral 6 



Length of the ventral tin 21 



Distance between the root of the ventral and the origin 



of the anal 4 



Length of the anal tin If 



Greatest depth of the anal 2 



Length of the longest caudal ray 31 



Length of the middle caudal ray If 



The depth of the body is contained five times and one-fourth in 

 the total length ^^ without caudal), the length of the head four times 

 and two-thirds. The head is longish, with the snout slightly pro- 

 duced and conical ; however, the snout is not so much elongate as 

 to equal in length the postorbital portion of the head, the eye being 

 situated entirely in its anterior half. The bones of the jaws are 

 rather feeble, and especially the maxillary is rather thin in its upper 

 portion, and only slightly dilated behind ; it extends scarcely to below 

 the posterior margin of the orbit, and is as long as the snout. (In a 

 female specimen of the same length the snout is cousjjicuously shorter 

 than in the male which we here describe, and the maxillary is de- 

 cidedly longer than the snout.) The lower jaw is bent upwards in 

 a slight hook, which does not prevent the mouth from being com- 

 pletely shut. The vomer is only anteriorly armed with two or three 

 teeth, the remainder being lost ; the posterior margin of the oper- 

 culum and suboperculum is subsemicircular, and the point of jimc- 

 tion of the two bones is equally distant from the upper end of the 

 gill-opening and from the lower end of the suboperculum. Although 

 the angle of the praeoperculum is rounded, a horizontal Hmb can be 

 distinguished, as well as a vertical one. 



Dorsal fin rather longer than high. Anal fin considerably higher 

 than long. The caudal fin is still deeply emarginate, the length of 

 the middle rays being not much less than one-half of the length of 

 the longest. Pectoral fin as long as the head without snout. Ventral 

 half as long as its distance from the vent. 



There are 120 transverse series of scales ; the transverse series 

 descending obliquely backwards from the origin of the dorsal fin to 

 the lateral line contains twenty-five scales, and there are nineteen 

 longitudinal series between the lateral line and the base of the ven- 

 tral fin. 



Upper parts greenish, which colour gradually passes into the silvery 

 hue of the belly. There are some scattered X-shaped black spots on 

 the side of the back above the lateral line. The colour appears to sit 

 more in the membrane forming the pouches of the scales than in 

 the scales themselves. Dorsal, caudal, and extremity of the pectoral 

 blackish. 



