678 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



Snout hit,'h ami (.■(uninessed, (imtniiliii}!; licyoml mouth for an axial ilistanee nearly equalin<; half 

 orbital diameter; anterior profile of snout very oblicjue; ilistanee from its tip to premaxillaries contained 

 4.7 in length of head; length of snout O.S longest orbital diameter, and contained 3.5 times in length of 

 head; inrerorl)ital space convex, with somewhat ilepressed central area, its width 0.3 length of head; 

 longest orbital diameter very slightly more than 0.3 length of head; nasal fossa scaled in it« posterior 

 half, the longitudinal diameter of naked portion half that of pui)il; length of the posterior nostril 0.4 

 pupil; top and sides of liead without con.spicuous ridges; greatest width of mouth, measured externally, 

 coiitaine<l 1.8 times in its greatest length; maxillary reaching a vertical whicli intersects orbit halfway 

 l)et\ve<'n ]iu]iil and hinder margin of orbit, its length contained 2 or 2. 1 times in length of head; ]ire- 

 maxillary teeth in a doubli> series, the outer of moderate canines, which decrease in size laterally, the 

 inner of nnich smaller curved teeth directed backward; mandibular teetli uniserial, ex<-ept at sym- 

 physis, where - teeth on either side stand behind 2 of the outer row; anterior teeth about e(|ual to 

 tho.se to which they are opposed in upper jaw; lateral teeth increasing in size ))ackward,'and liecoming 

 the largest in the mouth; barbel half or slightly more than half orbital diameter; preopercular angle 

 Ijroadly produced backward, the posterior margin very oblique and incurved; above operele, a wide 

 band of scales covers scapular region, separated from neighlioring scaly areas above and below b\- 

 narrow naked lines; gill-membranes rather narrowly joined across isthmus, forming a fold which is 

 entirel)' free; anterior gill-slit less con.stricted than usual, its width 3 times that of slit behind fourth 

 gill; gill-rakers 7 in nundier, tubercular, but unusually prominent, slightly movul)Ie, and bearing long 

 spinous teeth; no exposed spines in connection with opercles or shoulder-girdle. 



Second dorsal spine very slender and weak, not extending beyond the tip of the following ray and 

 not tilameiitous, its length 1.6 times in head, very slightly exceeding length of snout and eye; second 

 dorsal very low, but perfe<'tly distinct throughout its course, its first ray about over thirtieth anal ray; 

 intersiiace betw'een dorsals unusually long, equaling about 2.5 times the liase <jf anterior fin; length of 

 inters])ace is not desiribed or figured in M. Lrris, in which the second dorsal is said to be so low and 

 indistinct as to render uncertain the point of origin; anal tin low, its origin vertically mider third ray 

 of first dorsal; ilisl;ince from anal upening to point where edge of liranchiostegal mend)rane crosses 

 isthmus half length of head. In .1/. I:i'ii.s (iiinther finds the "distance between the vent and isthnuis 

 two-thirds of the length of the head." Pectorals shorter than in .1/. hriia, half length of head, and con- 

 taining constantly 19 or 20 rays, instead of 17 or 18, as in that species; outer ventral ray produced, 

 reaching base of tenth or twelfth anal ray. 



In i[. liainiiit'nxis, as in M. hrvix, there is a deep, .scaleless, transversely elliptical pit between bases 

 of ventral fins, but in the Hawaiian species the pit is smaller. The anus is equiilistaut from the base of 

 ventrals and the first anal ray, or slightly nearer anal, and lies at the posterior end of a longitudinally 

 oblong or wedge-shaped naked area, whitdi is sejiarated from the anterior pit by a narrow band of 

 .■scales. There is no trace of a constriction dividing anal area into a posterior linear portion containing 

 anus and an anterior ol)long portion, as is figured by Giinther in 3/. bvris. The <lescriptions by Ciiinther 

 and by Liitken do not, however, agree with the interpretation of the artist. Liitken describes the 

 position of the anal opening in .V. Ufi'is as beneath the fourth ray of the first dorsal, and Ijehind base 

 of pectorals. In }i(iiiaiiensis a vertical from the anus traverses the pectoral base ajid the ba,se of .seconil 

 dorsal spine. 



The scales are very small, high and narrow, caducous, those on posterior jjart of body lost in all 

 .specimens which we have obtained; under anterior dorsal, each scale is densely covered with short 

 spines which show no evident arrangement; scales on nape and breast similar; on top of head the 

 si)ines are similar, but frecinently arranged in parallel or diverging lines; no arrangement is apparent 

 on sides of head; head very completely scaled; lips and half Ihe nasal fos.«;e naked; gular memlirane 

 with sj>inous plates on median line only, and those on gill-memljranes confined to single series accom- 

 panying rays; with these exceptions all exposed .surfaces of head are densely covered; the lateral 

 line de.si'ribes a long convex curve anteriorly; and reaches middle of sides more than a head's length 

 lieliind its origin. 



Coliir (ilive-lirown above, bluish silvery on siiles of heail and trunk; gill-membranes and abd<jmen 

 black; mouth i-ivity wliite, gill-chamber lilai-k, except the pari overlying the epihyal and ceratohyal; 

 aliilonunnl cavity lineil with black; first dorsal, ventrals, pectorals, and anterior ]iortions of dorsal 

 and anal tins black. 



