SHORE FISHES OF GALAPAGOS ISLANDS 



357 



below, notch, and posterior lower edge of maxillary serrate; gill- 

 rakers 12 -h 21, a little greater than 2 in eye. 



Angle of each premaxillary and each side of symphysis of lower 

 jaw with an elevation bearing about 12 (number variable in differ- 

 ent specimens) hard, papillar, tooth-like projections, forming in adults 

 a very conspicuous character; teeth of inside of mouth small, in villi- 

 form bands in both jaws, in a triangular patch on the vomer and in 

 elongated club-shaped patches on the palatines; an outer series of 

 enlarged blunt conical teeth in each jaw similar in shape and appear- 

 ance to those on the exterior of the jaws. 



Dorsal fin with 1 1 spines, third and fourth longest, deeply emargi- 

 nate before the last; soft dorsal elevated, somewhat falcate, much 

 higher than the spinous dorsal, 14 rays, the anterior longest; anal 

 spines 4, the first very short, the third thickened but shorter than the 

 fourth, fourth longest; soft anal similar to the soft dorsal; caudal 

 forked, the lobes equal and bluntly rounded; pectoral rather pointed, 

 rays 15, the upper longest ; ventral pointed, slightly longer than the max- 

 illary ; scales large, sharply serrate, 2^30-6 ; lateral line nearly hori- 

 zontal anteriorly, with a slight upward curve on the caudal peduncle. 



Variations. The external teeth of both jaws vary greatly in indi- 

 viduals of different ages, being much smaller and fewer in numbers 

 in the young than in adults. In a specimen 125 mm. long they are 

 scarcely conspicuous on the upper jaw, and on the lower only 3 

 small teeth are present on each side. In some adults all 4 sets are 

 large and prominent, while in others of the same size they are much 

 smaller. The degree to which the lower jaw projects beyond the 

 upper varies with the development of the external teeth. 



MEASUREMENTS OF Myrifristis murdjan. 



Color in life. Above bright cherry- red, lighter on sides, fading to 

 silvery-red on belly; opercular flap and axil of dorsal dusky olive- 

 Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., January, 1905. 



