64 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NOETH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



with shagreen, made of triangular depressible asperities. Eegion from 

 the nostrils to the shoulder girdle smooth, except the lower lip. A few 

 other small naked areas below. Upper lip developed. Teeth |-|. Color 

 brown, mottled and barred with blackish; a black blotch on hinder part 

 of pectorals below. Tail rather shorter than disk. First dorsal not far 

 behind ventrals. Snout one-fifth the length of disk, twice the interor- 

 bital space. San Diego Bay ; abundant. Only young specimens known, 

 but it is probably ovoviviparous and therefore not a Eaioid. 



'' (PlatyrMna exasperata Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1880, 32: Zapteryx 

 exasperatus Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1880, 53 : Tnjgonorhina exasperata 

 Garman, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 1880, 170.) 



" 45 (c). R. triscriatiBS Jordan & Gilbert. 



"Disk broad, ovate, broader than long. The snout very bluntly 

 rounded, not iirojecting, the angle formed by the pectorals anteriorly 

 very obtuse ; anterior outline of the pectorals slightly convex, not undu- 

 lated. Tail very stout, much longer than the disk, its edges with a 

 broad fold, broader than in B. exasperatus. Pectoral fins extending 

 almost to the tip of the snout ; rostral ridges wide apart, converging, 

 inclosing a triangular area. Eyes small, wide apart, the broad spira- 

 cles close behind them. Caudal fin well developed above and below. 

 Dorsals similar, their posterior free margins very convex. Mouth 

 broad, its width nearly equal to its distance from tip of snout, a deep 

 crease passing around it behind, in front of which the lower lij) has three 

 folds of skin 5 upper lip not developed, a fold of skin passing from the 

 angle of the mouth on either side to the inner angle of the nostrils, 

 thence straight across, inclosing a depressed trapezoidal /^-shaped area, 

 bound below by the curved outline of the upper jaw. In this are three 

 cross-folds of skin. Teeth ||. Gill-openings narrow. Skin every- 

 where, above and below, covered with fine shagreen, the prickles coarser 

 on the anterior outer margin of the jiectorals ( ^ ), where are two or three 

 rows of retrorse spines. Four strong spines on the tip of the snout, 

 forming a rhombic figure; four or five spines around each eye. A long 

 series of very strong spines along the median line of the back and tail, 

 and a series of similar ones on each side of the tail ; a single strong spine 

 on the outer edge of the shoulder-girdle and two between this and the 

 median series. Color light olive brown, without distinct markings. L. 2 

 feet. Breadth of disk one-tenth more than its length ; tail usually half 

 longer than disk ; snout two-ninths of length of disk, not half longer 

 than width of iuterorbital area. Coast of California from Point Concep- 

 cion southward ; abundant. In spite of its resemblance to the Eaioid 



