TRACHYRHYNCHUS HELOLEPIS. 219 
sharp pointed at the snout, little less than one third of the total length, flat 
on the crown, arched across the middle of the snout, nearly straight on the 
top from the nape forward. Suborbital ridges thick, rounded, prominent, 
extending from the snout to the base of the pectoral, descending a little 
across the operculum. Snout nearly twice as long as the orbit, much wider 
than deep, sharp. Eye large, about as long as the width of the interorbital 
space, little more than half as long as the snout. Interorbital space flat, on 
a level with the balance of the crown. Mouth large, distance of intermax- 
illaries from the tip of the snout close upon one and one half times the 
length of the orbit, maxillary extending below nearly the whole of the 
orbit. Teeth equal, small, sharp, numerous, in villiform bands. Barbel 
small, one fourth as long as the eye. Gill rakers 5 + 19-20; lamina 
short. 
First dorsal originating above the base of the pectoral, base five sixths 
of the orbital length. Second dorsal separated from the first by a space 
as long as the barbel. Origin of the anal backward from the head less 
than half the length of the latter, below the eleventh ray of the second 
dorsal. Vent close to the anal. Ventral bases below the forward edges of 
the operculum; fins but a trifle longer than the orbit, midlength lying 
below the origin of the pectorals, second ray longest, with a filamentary 
prolongation. Body, head, and snout covered with very harsh spinose or 
keeled scales; each of those on the body is provided with a strong, erect, 
more or less irregular and angled spine, while those of the head and of a 
series at each side of the base of the dorsal and of the anal have a longitudi- 
nally compressed serrated keel and are with or without additional and less 
developed spines. The number of spines on each scale varies considerably 
on any part of the body. Excepting the fins, the only bare spaces on the 
body are on the gill membranes and between the lower jaws. With age 
the spine on the scales of the flank takes the appearance of a vertical 
(transverse) keel, the spine proper forming a ridge on its forward side. 
Dingy brownish in the alcohol. In life having a reddish tint overcast 
with more or less of blue. 
In some respects these specimens do not agree with Gilbert’s description. 
The differences, however, do not appear sufficiently great to warrant the 
establishment of a new species. The type of 7. helolepis was taken by the 
“Albatross” at “Station 2818, in deep water off the coast of Central 
America.” 
