228 PEOCEEDIXGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Head 3,\ in lenstli to base of caudal; g^reatest depth 2|. 



Color sooty blackish, nearly uniforiu, the belly not paler tlian the 

 back. A black spot at angle of opercle, none on pectoral. Ventrals, 

 anal and dorsal wholly black, as are the shields of the lateral line. 



The single specimen of this species (Xo. 28,385) 18 inches in length, 

 was obtained by Lieutenant Nichols, at Sulphur Bay, Clarion Ishmd, off 

 the west coast of Mexico. It seems to be identical with the fish figured 

 by Dr. Giinther (Fische Sudsee, taf. 85) as Caranx ascemionis, from 

 Kingsmill Island, but the orignal Scomber ascemionis of Osbeck is evi- 

 dently a different species. 

 5. Balistes mento sp. nov. (No. 28,387 U. S. Nat. Mus.) 



Body oblong, elliptical, slightly heaviest forward ; dorsal and ventral 

 outlines similar, neither much arched. Body not strongly compressed, 

 its greatest thickness a little less than half its g-reatest depth. INIouth 

 very small, terminal, higher up than usual, nearly in the line of the axis 

 of the body, the chin protruding beyond it; width of the mouth from 

 angle to angle about equal to the diameter of the eye. Lower jaw the 

 longer, its teeth slightly directed backward; upper jaw with its teeth 

 directed slightly forwards, shutting outside of the lower teeth. Teeth 

 pale brownish, somewhat unequal; lower teeth wedge shaped, broadest 

 and nearly truncate at tip; teeth of the upper jaw obliquely truncatej 

 slightly emarginate, the outer angle pointed and in^ojecting. About 

 eight teeth in the outer row ; the mouth so closely shut that the inner 

 row cannot be seen. 



Eye small, high and well back, its diameter contained nearly twice in 

 the interorbital width, 3 in snout. A groove in front of eye below 

 the nostrils, about as long as the diameter of the eye. Five narrow 

 grooves on the cheek below the eye, extending from near the mouth 

 backward toward the base of the pectoral. 



Height of gill-opening slightly greater than diameter of eye, its lo\^er 

 edge opposite middle of pectoral. 



Scales of body comparatively small, not very rough. Scales of belly 

 somewhat reduced in size, arranged in oblique series running downward 

 and backward from the pectoral region, these forming a contrast in 

 direction with the scales of the sides. Scales on caudal peduncle with- 

 out keel or spines, similar to those on rest of body; scales on posterior 

 portion of sides slightly carinate, forming low ridges along the rows of 

 scales. Gill-opening surrounded by small scales and without larger 

 l>lates. 



First dorsal spine very robust, placed somewhat behind eye, its height 

 a little more than twice diameter of eye, the deep dorsal groove as long- 

 as the spine. Second spine short and slender, its length about equal 

 to diameter of eye. Third dorsal spine wholly ivanting. 



Soft dorsal rather high, its longest rays more than half the length of 

 the base of the fin, If in head; anal similar, its base a little shorter, a 

 few series of small scales covering the base of each fin ; caudal mod- 

 erate, lunate, its deptti from tip to tip more than its length, and 1^- times 



