488 



PLETJRONECTID^ . 



28. GYMNACHIRUS. 

 Gymnachirus, Kaup in Wiegm. Arch. 1858, p. 101. 



Mouth very small, with the jaws toothless, and hidden behind the 

 thick skin. Scales none ; lateral line straight. Eyes on the right 

 side, of moderate size. Dorsal and anal rays branched ; the dorsal 

 commences on the snout ; caudal free. Pectorals rudimentary or 

 entirely absent ; only the right ventral is present and continuous 

 with the anal. GUI-openings very narrow, the gill-membranes being 

 broadly united below the throat. 



Tropical parts of the Atlantic. 



Kaup, I. c. 



1. Gymnachirus nudus. 



D. 51. A. 42. V. 5. 



Pectorals none. Somewhat longer than high. Body with fourteen 

 black cross-bands ; irregular concentrical rings round the eyes ; 

 caudal with two black bands anteriorly and with white margin, 



Bahia. 



The typical specimen is in the Paris Collection. 



2. Gymnachirus fasciatus. 



D. 68. A. 50. P. 2. V. 5. 



The right pectoral is extremely small, the left absent. Body with 

 alternate broader and narrower cross-bands. 

 Hah. ? 



a. Seven and one-third iaches long. From the Collection of the 

 Zoological Society. — Perhaps from Cuba. 



I)e,<icription. — In general habit similar to Solea achirus, L. The 

 height of the body is contained twice iu the total length (with the 

 caudal), the length of the head five times and a half. The anterior 

 profile is subsemicircular. The cleft of the mouth extends further 

 backwards on the right side than on the left, but does not reach to 

 the vertical from the orbit. The lower lip and the cutaneous edge 

 of the upper jaw are slightly fringed; the latter is pierced by a 

 rather wide, short, tubiform nostril, which is in front of the angle 

 of the mouth. The jaws are entirely hidden behind the cutaneous 

 edges of the mouth, and twisted towards the right side. The left 

 side of the snout and of the nape are densely covered with fringes, 

 which form a sort of network. The e5'^es are contiguous, situated on 

 the same level, twice as remote from the pectoral as from the snout. 

 The gill-opening does not extend upwards to the pectoral. The 

 whole of the anterior and superior profiles of the head is surrounded 

 by a series of fringes, which gradually pass into the dorsal rays proper. 

 Fins enveloped in thick skin. The dorsal and anal terminate im- 

 mediately before the root of the caudal. Caudal rounded, as long 



