PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 531 



turned straif^lit backwards. The three pectoral filaments very slender, 

 the uppermost about half as lon<2^ as the pe(;toral fin, which is con- 

 tained two and two-thirds times in the total length. 



Ventrals four and three-fourths times in total length, their tips nearly 

 reaching the vent ; all the rays once bifurcate, the last united by mem- 

 brane at its base to the abdomen. 



Bases of pectoral and ventral fins oblique, the pectoral filaments in 

 advance of the ventrals, which are inserted vertically below the an- 

 terior margin of the i^ectorals. 



Scales of moderate size, finely ciliate. Lower jaw, gill-membrane, and 

 sides and upper surface of head scaleless. Scales of breast rather 

 smaller than those of back. A row of scales along the basal part of the 

 outer caudal rays, other fins scaleless. Lateral line simple. 



General color of body slaty gray or leaden upon the upi)er two-thirds, 

 the lowest third white. A black spot on the dorsal between the fourth 

 and fifth spines, traces of it between the fifth and sixth. Three rows of 

 black spots on the second dorsal, the spots set saddlewise across the 

 rays. Three rows of black spots on caudal, the terminal row between 

 the rays. Anal white. Pectoral black, with whitish cloudings. Upper 

 part of head rather darker than tlie body, a silvery tint about the pos- 

 terior portion of maxillary, lower part of gill-cover, and base of pectoral. 



A single specimen of this species was procured in the market of San 

 Francisco, October, 18S0, and was taken off Point Eeyes. It is now in 

 the United States National Museum, numbered 27048. 



A large proportion of the fish brought to the San Francisco markets 

 is procvux^d in the tolerably- deep water of the region between the rocky 

 islets known as the Faralloues, the entrance of San Francisco Bay, and 

 Point Eeyes, a rocky prouiontory some forty miles north of San Fran- 

 cisco. This locality yielded the first specimens of Artedins qiiadriseri- 

 atus Locktn., Odoiitopyxis trispinosus Locktn., Agonus vulsus J. & G., 

 BracliyopHls rernicosus Locktn., Brachyistins rosavetis J. & G., Hippoylos- 

 soides cxilis J. & G., Atheresthes stomius J. & G., Cynicoglossus pacijicus 

 Locktn., and Glyptoccphalus zachinis Locktn. Brachyopsis xyostcrmis 

 J. & G. and Artedins piujettensis Steind. occur there in tolerable abun- 

 dance, and it has now furnished the iirst example of a genus hitherto 

 not known to occur north of the Gulf of Fonseca. 



Gunther (Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. ii, 195, 190) gives a short diagnosis of 

 three species of Prionotus from the Pacific, P. Jiorrens Eich., P. hiros- 

 trafus Eich., both from the Gulf of Fonseca, and P. miles Jenyns, from 

 the Galapagos. P. steplmnoplirys most resembles the latter species, but 

 has much longer i)ectorals and a difl'erent coloration, the latter being 

 "above mottled brilliant tile-red j beneath silvery white". 



