1885.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 553 



has not hitherto been announced as occuiring on our coast, I proceed 

 to give a detailed description of it. 



Form elongated, head blunt, and caudal fin long and lanceolate. 



Head rather large in all its dimensions; its length in the body to 

 caudal tin 4 times ; broadest at the corners of the mouth. This dimen- 

 sion equal to the depth of the head and contained in length of head IJ 

 times. Mouth large and somewhat oblique, the maxillary extending 

 back to a vertical from the posterior border of the pupil. No barbels. 

 Skin of upper and lower lips ample. Premaxillary freely protractile. 

 Snout broadly rounded and rapidly decurved. Teeth of the outer series 

 of the upper jaw enlarged and recurved. The teeth of the outer series 

 of the lower jaw are of moderate size and movable; while those of the 

 inner row, about 8 on each side, are enlarged and firmly fixed. Lower 

 jawbroadandthin. Nasal openings of each pair wideapart. Eyes small, 

 in lengthof heads, high up; interorbital space equal to the diameter of 

 the eye. Snout a little greater than the diameter of the eye. Cheeks 

 flat and nearly perpendicular. Head wholly devoid of scales. No ten- 

 tacle above the orbit, and no crest on the back of the head or neck. 

 Body somewhat compressed, the depth in length 6 times. Scales 

 strongly ctenoid, small in front, becoming larger posteriorly; very irreg- 

 ularly arranged; about 52 rows from operculum to base of caudal fin, 

 and about IC longitudinal rows between the origins of the anal and soft 

 dorsal. Eays of fins as follows: D. VI-11; A. 12; dorsals well sepa- 

 rated. Spines of first dorsal ending in filaments, that of the third spine 

 being longest. Pectorals rather large, no rays silky. Yentrals united 

 to form a sucking disk that is free from the belly. Caudal nearly half 

 as long as the body and lanceolate. 



Color of body yellowish olive. Along the sides are five or six dusky 

 blotches, the one at the middle of the length the largest and most dis- 

 tinct. One of these forms a caudal spot. Another spot lies just above 

 and behind the opercle. Above the rows of spots and between them 

 are numerous splotches of dusky. Along the sides are several circular 

 spots about the size of the pupil, apparently, in life of a bright yellow 

 color, and each encircled with a dusky ring. Belly ajjparently of a livid 

 blue. Head yellowish and dusky, mottled above and on the sides. 

 Snout, upper and lower lips, and streak back from symphysis of mandi- 

 bles, livid blue. Cheeks each with about six or eight yellow ocellated 

 spots. One or two similar spots on each operculum. Dorsal fins mot- 

 tled and barred with dusky ; the filaments of the spinous dorsal yellow. 

 Caudal dusky; a few of the upper raj^s white, or in life jjossibly yel- 

 low; the lower edge of the caudal nearly black. Anal and the united 

 vcntrals blue-black. Pectorals barred with duskj . 



Total length of specimen 4| inches; length, exclusive of caudal, 3^ 

 inches. 



To the writer it appears that, until the osteology of the various forms 



