Ko. 1581. FISHES OF JAPAN— JORDAN AND RICHARDSON. 645 



Characters those of the family. Two species known from Japan. 

 (ottXoVj armature; ix^vs, fish.) 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



a Anal rays 16; longest pectoral appendage reaching tip of pectoral; a tuft of strong 

 spines on the under side of the head at the outer posterior angle of each mandible; 

 lateral facial edges rather strongly lobed and furnished with strong curved spines; 



color light grayish brown, the back with 4 obscure crossbars langsdorfii, 11 



aa Anal rays 17 or 18; longest pectoral appendage one eye-width short of tip of pec- 

 toral; no spines on under side of head; lateral facial edges scarcely lobed, rather 

 weakly serrated except posteriorly; color grayish, the back crossed by 4 dusky 

 crossbars gilberti, 12 



II, HOPLICHTHYS LANGSDORFII Cuvier and Valenciennes. 



Oplichthys langsdorfii Cuvier and Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., IV, 1829, p. 



264, pi. Lxxxi (Japan). (Hoplii-hthys in table of contents; not Hoplichthys 



langsdorfii Temminck and Schlegel.)« — {?)b Smith and Pope, Proc. U .S. 



Nat. Mus., XXXI, 1906, p. 487 (Urado; Kagoshima). 

 Hoplichthys langsdorfii Gvntker, Cat. Fishes, II, 1860, p. 191 (China, Japan). — 



(?) IsHiKAWA, Cat. Fishes Imp. Mus. Tokyo, 1897, p. 48 (Boshu; Tosa). 

 Hoplichthys langsdorfii (?) Nystrom, Svensk. Vet.-Akad. Handl., 13, IV, 1887, 



No. 4, p. 25 (Nagasaki). — (?) Steindachner and Doderlein, Beitr. Kennt. 



Fische Japan's (IV), 1887, p. 261 (Tokyo Bay). 

 Hoplichthys pusillus (?) Bleeker, Enum. Poiss. Japon., 1879, p. 13 (Nagasaki), 



(after Aspidophorus pusillus Langsdorff, mss.). 



Habitat. — Seas of Japan, north to Tokyo. -^ 



Head, 3.7 in length to base of caudal; depth, 12.5, depth of head, 

 3.75 in its length; width of head, 1.3; eye, 3.6; interorbitalspace, 

 4.2 in eye; maxillary, 3 in head; nose, 3.6; D. VI-15; A. 16; lateral 

 scutes, 28. 



Body without scales or plates except for an upper dorso-lateral 

 row of keeled scutes on each side, the dorsal wings ot which overlap 

 antero-posteriorly and extend inward nearly to the base of the dorsal 

 rays, torming an almost complete coat of mail for the back ; the keel 

 of each scute terminating behind in a sharp, backwardly-directed 

 spine, below which, on the free hinder margin of the scute, is a very 

 small obscure spine; head roughened with a few short spines and 

 many low serrated ridges; free lateral margins of preorbitals, sub- 

 orbitals, and preopercles, forming a thin edge, which is notched into 

 lobes bearing long, sharp, spine-like serratures; a noticeably broad, 

 shallow notch in the suborbital edge under the front of the pupil, 

 bounded by 2 curved spines, pointing toward each other; angle of 

 preoperculum with 2 long curved spines, the inner and posterior one 



« For a discussion of the identity of the specimen of Temminck and Schlegel see 

 the conclusion of the present description. 



b The synonyms in this list which are preceded l)y an interrogation point are unac- 

 companied by any descriptive matter, and may not refer to Hoplichthys langsdorfii 

 uvier and Valenciennes. See conclusion of present description. 



