478 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 106 
Dorsal spines rising to the last, subtruncate, flattened, each 
with a brown vertical streak in center; the soft rays and 
lobes of caudal much produced, as also ventrals. 
Deep indigo blue on body and fins; no pale edgings to 
any of the fins; three round sky blue spots above lateral 
line, the one near its beginning, the one under front of 
spinous dorsal, the third under last spine, the first smallest, 
the other two as large as pupil; a larger sky blue saddle 
in axil of last soft ray. Head with many sky blue spots 
everywhere, those on preorbital and suborbital coalescing 
in a blue streak; another streak behind angle of mouth, 
and another above eye. Axil sky blue, a bar of sky blue 
across end of snout. Angle of snout sky blue. 
177. Microspathodon azurissimus Jordan & Starks n. 
sp» Plate xhv. 
A surpassingly beautiful little fish, obtained by dynamite 
from the rocks about the Venados Islands. Three spec- 
imens were taken, the largest twelve inches in length. 
This species seems to agree fully with JZzcrospathodon 
dorsal?s, except in coloration, in the greater elongation of 
the lobes of the fins and in the greater depth of the pre- 
orbital and other bones of the head. All these latter may 
prove to be differences of age. The change in the color- 
ation can hardly be of this nature. Another species of 
this type, Wicrospathodon cinereus Gilbert, has been de- 
scribed from Socorro Island. This is very close to dor- 
salis and azurissimus, but is of an ashy gray color and 
has a greater number of accessory scales on the large 
scales of its body. Pending investigation, we admit all 
four of these color torms—#azrdiz, dorsalis, cinereus and 
azurissimus—as distinct species, which they probably are, 
although the differences between cevereus and azurissimus 
may be derived from the character of the bottom, cznereus 
having been obtained trom a bottom of volcanic ashes. 
