980 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxviii. 



IToad large, with nearly vertical cheeks, and a gently arched upper 

 profile. The mouth is somewhat oblique, the maxillary extending 

 nearly to the vertical from the posterior margin of the pupil. A pair 

 of low occipital protuberances are present, less developed than in 

 3f. zonui'HS. The interorbital space is gently concave; it l)ears pos- 

 teriorly a pair of ridges which join the supraorbital rim anteriorlv, 

 and converge toward the occiput but do not meet. No nasal spines 

 arc^ present. The posterior margin of the anterior nostril bears a 

 shoit flaj). The preopercle bears two slender diverging spines at the 

 angle, the lower without trace of the accessory spinelet so conspicu- 

 ous in M. zniuifKK; beh)w and in front of the two diverging spines is 

 a third directed downwards and forwards. The opercle is marked 

 with two strong ribs, the upper of which is broad and longitudinally 

 striate, but the ribs do not terminate in spines. 



The jaws contain narrow bands of villiform teeth; the vomer and 

 palatines are toothless. The gill membranes are broadly attached to 

 the throat, and have the ]30sterior margin wholly adnate. The append- 

 ages to the l)ranchial arches are tubercular and spinous, similar on all 

 the arches, those on the anterior limb nine in number. The fourth 

 arch bears but a single row of filaments, and is without posterior pore 

 or slit. A free fold of membrane, with marginal papilhe, is attached 

 to the inner face of the ceratohyal, and serves obviously as a valve to 

 close the cleft in frt)nt of the first gill arch. The pseudobranchitv are 

 large. 



The dorsal fins are contiguous, the anterior low, with weak flexible 

 spines. The second dorsal is longer than the anal, overpassing it ])oth 

 anteriorly and posteriorly. The pectorals have a broad procurrcnt 

 base, the lower ravs rapidly shortened. The ventrals are short, their 

 length al)out eijualing the diameter of the orbit, their basal half 

 included within the integument of the abdomen. 



Series of large nuicous pores on the top and sides of the head; those 

 along the course of the lateral line 15 in numl)er. 



Two pairs of blackish cross-blotches on the lips, the anterior nuuh 

 the larger. Head inconspicuously t)lotchrd and spotted with dusky. 

 Three irregular dark cross-bars on the back, one under spinous dorsal, 

 a broad well-marked bar l)elow second dorsal, and a narrower one on 

 the caudal peduncle and the basal portion of the caudal fin. The bars 

 are more or less Itroken up by streaks or niottlings of the lighter brown 

 color. The al)domen has a liluish or purplish tinge, and is punctate 

 with black. The pectorals are dusky on the l)asal third, sometimes 

 mottled, a light bar sometimes occupying the middle third of all except 

 the lower rays; the terminal third is blackish, all except a few of tlie 

 uppermost rays with whitish tips. Th(^ ventrals are dusky with whitish 

 tips. The spinous dorsal is blackish, the soft dorsal with three or four 

 oblique blackish bars, the anterior bar usually nmch wider than the 



