328 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



their base vertical, aud exteudiug to the abdominal outline ; the flu con- 

 sistiug of 18 rays, tlie fifth or sixth longest, the lowest about f as long 

 as the fifth; first three or four rays simj)le, the others bifurcate. 



No lateral line. Scales roundish, smooth, separate, "embedded in the 

 skin, uniform over the whole of the body, except upon an area on the 

 upper surface in fi'out of the dorsal, where they are smaller, and region 

 near base of pectorals scaleless. Head scaleless, the ridges somewhat 

 prominent. 



Color olivaceous, the scales lighter than the skin ; the color formed 

 by numerous dark points, which are continued also upon the head. 

 Upper surface of head darker, abdominal surface lighter than other 

 portions. Vertical fins margined with black. 



This species is not uncommon in the markets at San Francisco. Two 

 specimens, 10 to 12 inches in length, have been forwarded to the United 

 States National Museum, where they are numbered 23502. They may 

 be considered as the types of the species. 



2. Odontopyxis trispinosus, geu. and sp. nov. 



G-ENERic CHARACTERS. — Family Afjonidw, allied to Agoniis {cata- 

 phractiis), from which it differs chiefly in the presence of teeth on the 

 vomer and palatines. It is distinguished from Agonopsis, Gill, by its 

 smaller fins and slenderer form. 



Specific characters. — Body octahedral, the lower flat side termi- 

 nating behind the anal fin, tlie upper side a little behind the second 

 dorsal. Posterior portion of body hexagonal. Body anteriorly very 

 much broader than deep, the upper side, from the head to its termination, 

 concave; lower side slightly concave; the other surfaces flat. Lateral 

 surfaces (traversed by the lateral line) wider aateriorly than those sepa- 

 rating them from the upper and lower surfaces ; posterior to the second 

 dorsal the lateral surfaces are narrowest. 



Greatest depth, above pectoral, 10-12 times in length ; greatest width, 

 at gill-covers, 7|-8; length of head, 5§-5| times in the total length; eye, 

 3^-o|-; snout, 3i-3| ; interorbital width, C.'^-7 times in length of head. 



Head triangular, depressed. A sharp, rather long, ihovable spine 

 upon the tip of the snout, its triangular base projecting beyond the jaws; 

 behind this central spine, on the highest point of the snout, is a pair of 

 similar, but recurved, fixed spines. Snout posterior to these spines 

 nearly level to orbital region. A prominent supra-orbital ridge ending 

 posteriorly in a backward-directed spiue. Forehead strongly convex 

 longitudinally, and strongly concave transversely. Occiput slightly 

 depressed between the i)ar-occipital ridges, its posterior border deeply 

 emarginated. Supra-occipital ridge but slightly marked above, but very 

 conspicuous on the hinder margin of the head, where, there is a deep 

 cavity in front of the first series of body-plates, this cavity longitudi- 

 nally divided by the sui^ra- occipital ridge. A slightly-marked ridge 

 from the center of the hinder margin of the eye to the lateral keel of 



