6i 



cristae of tail continuous. Intermedial shields (scu- 

 tella) present, as also a praenuchal and two nuchal 

 shields. Operculum with complete longitudinal 

 keel and radiating ridges or lines, especially in 

 the lower half of the operculum. Snout rather 

 short, slightly shorter or longer than remaining 

 part of head. Dorsal with 21 — 35 rays, situated 

 above 5 — 9 rings, one or two of which belong 

 to the tail; anal behind middle of length ; caudal 

 small; pectorals present. Eggs large, isolated in 

 open cells in the abdominal skin of the male. 

 They are laterally protected by ventrally diverging 

 plates; posteriorly and anteriorly these plates are 

 provided with converging cutaneous folds, which 

 temporarely are glued together in the median 

 line and enclose the eggs. 



Distribution: Living in the litoral region 

 from East Africa, Mauritius, Bourbon, indo- 

 australian Archipelago, Philippines, Japan, Aus- 

 tralia to Pacific Islands. 



/fc'^v 



'i3*-f 



Key to the species ofChoeroichthys. 



1. Rings 19 -(- 21 — 24; subdorsal rings 

 5 — 7 + 2. Superior and inferior lateral 

 intermedial shields of trunic and lateral 

 and inferior intermedial shields of tail 



with a longitudinal keel C/i. sculpt Jis p. 6l. 



2. Rings 14 — 15 -|- 18 — 19; subdorsal 

 rings 4 -}- •• No keels on the inter- 

 medial shields Ch. brachysoina p. 62. 



w 



I . Choeroichthys sculptus (Gthr.) [Fig. 26, p. 61]. 



Doryichthys sculplus Giinther, Cat. Brit. Mus. VIII. 1870, p. 185. 

 Doryichthys sculptus Boulenger, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) 



XX. 1897, p. 374. 

 Miciophis sculptus Jordan & Scale, Bull. Bur. of Fisheries XXV. 



(1905) 1906, p. 214. 

 Doryrhiimphus macgregori Jordan t\: Richardson, Bull. Bur. of 



Fisheries, Washington, 1908, p. 246. 

 Miciophis occllatus Snyder, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. Wash. XXXVI, 



1909, p. 598. 

 Doryichthys sculptus Giinther, Fische d. Siidscc III. 1909 — 1910, 



1^- 433- 



Fig. 26. 



Choeroichthys 



sculptus (Gthr.) 



X34- 



