590 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [1885. 



taiiied 5 times in that of head. Teeth very feeble. Nostrils tubular, 

 nearer to eye thau to tip of suout. 



Dorsal origin in the vertical through middle of eyes ; the fin contains 

 90 rays, including half of caudal, the length of the longest 3J times in 

 greatest height of body. 



Distance of anal origin from snout 4:^ times in total length ; the anal 

 contains 79 rays, and its greatest height is equal to that of the dorsal. 



Length of median caudal rays contained 10 times in total length. 



Distance of ventral origin from snout times in total length; "the 

 ventral is separated from the anal by a distance equal to one-third the 

 length of head : its length is contained 2| times in that of head ; it con- 

 sists of four rays. 



Color uniform gray, lighter below, the scales above somewhat me- 

 tallic in luster. The last fourth of the dorsal has three oblong black 

 blotches somewhat larger than the eye ; the anal with four similarly 

 placed. In the young there is a slight brownish marginal line upon 

 each scale, and an appearance of indistinct cloudings of brown upon 

 the colored side. 



Eadial formula: D. 96; A. 79; V. 4; scales 85-35. 



Aphoristia pusilla, u. s. 



The species is described from the following specimens collected by 

 the steamer Fish Hawk : 



No. 28730, latitude 40° 07' 48" N., longitude 70° 45' 54" W., 55 milli- 

 meters long, with specimen 28778, latitude 40° 01', longitude 69° 56'. 



The body is slender, lanceolate, its greatest height contained 3J times 

 in its total length. The scales are small, strongly and sharply dentic- 

 ulated, 85 to 90 in a longitudinal and 38 in a transverse series. Jaws 

 and snout entirely covered with scales. 



The length of the head is contained 5 times in total length ; the 

 length of the snout in that of the head 5| times, and equals the diame- 

 ter of the eye. 



Eyes small, very closely approximated, in the same vertical line. 

 The nostril is tubular, placed midway between the lower eye and the tip 

 of the snout. 



Mouth small, oblique, curved, its posterior angle under the anterior 

 margin of the pupil of the lower eye, the length of its gape in that of 

 the head 4f times, in greatest height of body 6f times. Dentition 

 feeble. 



The dorsal fin begins in the vertical through the pupils and is com- 

 posed of 78 rays ; its greatest height is contained 2f times in that of 

 body. 



The anal is separated -from the snout by a distance about equal to 

 the height of the body, and 7^ times the length of the snout. It has 

 70 rays ; its greatest height equals one-third that of body. 



The median caudal rays are short, their length contained eleven times 

 in total. 



