PHILIPPINE MACROUROID FISHES—GILBERT AND HUBBS. 543 
55. ? MALACOCEPHALUS LAEVIS (Lowe). 
Malacocephalus laevis WEBER, Fische der Siboga-Expedition, 1913, p. 166. 
Doctor Weber has kindly reexamined his material for us, and has 
made some measurements on the head which indicate that his speci- 
mens are not referable to J/. /uzonensis. The measurements referred 
to are as follows: 
ISOG CGMS ell 0 tiaksetel =e Reeder eeaes Wee ieee ear ee) Pe Se 38 38 314 
SG EER Hin et a i A rey be 2 Mee Oe ee gS wee 300) mm. 321 283 
Breociy lar Weneths or (SOO Ute ee eet AS oe 15.5 mm. 15 iat 
Preoral length of snout (from front of premawnillary ) __ Pye Poa: | = 2E2 Sel} 
Postorbital length of head_______- =I APE ae tie ll Page inane, 5 Paahiay Py 
Whether these specimens are really referable to J/. /aevis is not evi- 
dent. We have no specimens of that species. 
VENTRIFOSSA, new genus. 
Ty pe-species—C ory phaenoides garmani Jordan and Gilbert. 
In the synopsis of the genera of Macrouroid fishes, which was in- 
cluded in our report on the fishes of this family from Japan,’ we 
separated out a group of species” (e) distinguished by the number of 
branchiostegal rays (seven), and by the position of the anus (remote 
from the anal fin). The genus Malacocephalus was next separated 
from the other genera: Lionurus, Mataeocephalus, Trachonurus, and 
Cetonurus. But in the description of Zionwrus* it was noted that 
nine species differed widely from the others, but closely resembled 
Malacocephalus in the large subterminal mouth and other characters. 
These species, together with two new ones which we are describing 
in this report, further agree with Malacocephalus in the ventro- 
lateral extension of the gill-slit, which is continued forward to below 
the posterior rim of the orbit. In Cetonurus, Trachonurus, and 
Mataeocephalus, as well as in the other species which we referred to 
* Lionurus, the gill-membranes unite below the ridge of the preopercle 
or thereabouts, except in certain aberrant species like pumiliceps, in 
which the whole ventral region of the head and trunk has migrated 
forward, producing a very peculiar physiognomy.* In all the species 
of Malacocephalus and Ventrifossa the length of the upper jaw is 
contained decidedly less than 3 times in the head, while in all other 
species in the group of genera under discussion, the length of the 
upper jaw is contained about three times (Lionurus stelgidolepis. 
Trachonurus villosus) or more than three times (usually much more) 
in the head. 
1 Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 51, 1916, pp. 135 to 214. 
*In the listing of the species we erroneously referred to V. nigromarginata as L. 
nigromaculatus. 
3’ Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 51, 1916, p. 192. 
*Owing to the intermediate position of several species, we are unable to define or 
delimit a group based on pumiliceps and its nearest allies. 
119404—20——_12 
