534 FISTTTLARID^E. 



g-h, i, k, I. Adult, half-grown, and young. China. 

 TO. Adult : stuffed : bad state. East Indies. 

 n, o,p, q, 1, s-u. Adult, half-grown, and young. 

 V, w, X. Adult and half-grown : stuffed. 



Description. — The tube into which the head is produced is ex- 

 ceedingly long, the part of the head situated behind the orbit being- 

 contained six times and a half in its length ; it is as high as broad 

 near its base, and somewhat compressed in its anterior portion ; a 

 vertical cut across its midflle would be hexagonal. The length of 

 the entire head is contained twice and two-thirds in the total length 

 (the caudal filament not included). The form of the mouth and the 

 teeth are the same as in F. tahaccaria, except that the lower jaw is 

 somewhat more prominent, and the teeth on the vomer appear to be 

 quite rudimentary, if present at all. 



The upper surface of the head is covered with a very thin skin ; 

 the middle portion of the tube is much more elevated than the lateidl 

 ones, at least on the basal half of the tube, and formed by crenulated 

 ridges, the outer of which arise from the anterior angle of the orbit, 

 first convergent, and then keeping a parallel direction The lateral 

 edge of the tube is very distinctly serrated, and provided with rather 

 prominent spines posteriorly. The eye is elongate, ovate, much 

 longer than high ; its horizontal diameter is one-half of its distance 

 from the base of the pectoral fin ; it is protected by prominent angles 

 of the fi'ontal bones anteriorly and posteriorly ; the bony bridge 

 between the orbits is concave and narrow, its width being less than 

 the vertical diameter of the eye. Crown of the head rather convex, 

 with slight crenulated striae. The nostrils are close together, one 

 before the other, in front of the anterior angle of the orbit, on the 

 side of the head. The operculum is not quite twice so long as high, 

 and covered with a thick membrane, which is prolonged beyond the 

 margin of the bone and fixed to the base- of the pectoral fin . The 

 form and situation of the sub- and prse-operculum are nearly the 

 same as in F. tahaccaria. The gUl-opening is wide, but does not 

 extend upwards beyond the base of the pectoral. Six slender 

 branchiostegals. The anterior part of the trunk is shielded by the 

 same number of bony lamellae as in F. tahaccaria. The air-bladder 

 is situated immediately between the lateral lamellae, and the body is 

 here transparent. The pubic shields cover the whole anterior portion 

 of the abdomen, except a small ovate spot between the pectoral fins. 



The body is much depressed, nearly twice as broad as high ; it 

 is naked, without the dermal ossifications found in F. tahaccaria. 

 The lateral line is marked by pores and small, narrow, bony shields, 

 which are sunk in the skin anteriorly, becoming broader on the tail, 

 and armed with a compressed spine directed backwards. The spines 

 form together a kind of serrature. The course of the lateral line is 

 the same as in F. tahaccaria. 



The base of the pectoral fin is obliquely curved ; the fin is some- 

 what longer than the orbit and rounded ; there is a small foramen 

 posteriorly ui its axil. The ventral fin is much shorter than the 



