460 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



ANALYSIS OF SPKCIKS OF XENISTIUS. 



a. Body olJong-elliptical, the back a littlt^ elevated ; head compressed ; month moder- 

 ate, termiual, very oblique, the lower jaw strongly ](r()truding; maxillary narrow, 

 reachiug front of pupil, 2i in head; eye large, 3J to 3i in head, the eyo smaller 

 and the bones of the head firmer than in Xcuichtliys; teeth small, sharp, in very 

 narrow bands, those on vomer iu a A-^li'i-pt'd patch, but so snuill as to be scarcely 

 api)reciable; preoperclo with fine shar]* serra' ; nostrils small, round; gill-rakers 

 long and slender, x -{- 15 to 20; scales small, firm; dorsal fins almost separated; 

 spines slender but pungent; third dorsal spine longest. If iu head, the others 

 gradually shortened; soft dorsal and anal similar to each other, short, shorter 

 than spinous dorsal, the anterior rays much higher than in the species of Xeuirh- 

 thys; first soft ray of anal 3 in head; soft dorsal and anal scaly; pectoral fins 

 rather long, 1^ in head, not reaching vent; color bluish above, silvery below; 

 continuous dusky stripes on upper part of body, 3 above lateral line, 3 or 4 below ; 

 upper fins dusky, lower mostly pale. Head, 3 iu length; depth, 3. D. xi-i, 12; 

 A. Ill, 10; lat. 1., 52 Californiemsis, 30. 



30. XENISTIUS CALirORNIENSIS. 



Xenichthys californiensis Steindachuer, Ichth. Beitr., iii, 3, 1875 (San Diego) ; Streets, 

 Bull. Nat. Mus., vii, 49, 1877 (C'erros Islaud) ; Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. 

 N. M. 1881, 278 (Cerros Island); Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. U. S. F. C. 1881, 

 326 (Cerros Island) ; Jordan A: Gilbert, Syn. Fish. N. A., 1883, 547 (Cerros 

 Islaud). 



Xeniatius californiensis, Jordan &. Gilbert, Syn. Fish. N. A., 1883, 920 (generic diag- 

 nosis) ; Evermann & Jenkins, Proc. U. S. N. M. 1891, 144 (Guaymas). 



Habitat: Coast of lower California, from San Diego to Guaymas. 



Etymology: From Califoruia. 



This interesting little fish seems to be ratlier rare along the coast of 

 lower California, and more abundant in the Gulf. One of our speci- 

 mens was taken at San Diego by Mrs. Eosa Smith Eigenmauu, the 

 other by Jenkins and Evermann at Guaymas. The species described 

 from San Salvador as Xenichthys xenurus by Jordan «& Gilbert (I*roc. 

 U. S. N. M. 1881, 154) is a si)ecies of Kukliu, a genus of Svrranklie. 



XL XENICHTHYS. 



Xenichthys Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Pliila. 1863, 82 {xanti). 



Type : Xenichthys xanti Gill. 



Etymology: ^i>i>^, strange; ixOd<;, fish. 



This genus contains two species from the eastern Pacific. It shows 

 a remarkable combination of characters, well justifying the name 

 Xenichthys. Tlie genus is certainly allied to J'oniadasis, in spite of its 

 resemblance to the Serranoid genus Kuhlia. 



