UMBRA KRAMERI. 367 



The scaled head gives this fish its most distinctive character. It has the 

 body four and a half to five times as long as deep, but is deeper than usual 

 behind the dorsal fin, so that its appearance is rather strong- than elegant. The 

 head is nearly as long as the body is deep, and twice the thickness of the body. 

 The head is longer than high and twice as long as broad, though the thickness 

 increases with age. The diameter of the eye is one-quarter the length of the 

 head. The eyes are separated by their own diameter and are the same distance 

 behind the extremity of the snout. The small double nares are nearer to the 

 extremity of the snout than to the eye. The maxillary bone extends under 

 the middle of the eye and forms part of the margin of the moderately large 

 mouth. The lower jaw is rather the longer and is pointed in the middle. 

 There are no teeth on the maxillary bone or on the tongue, but the pre-maxillary, 

 mandible, vomer, and palatine bones have fine-pointed teeth in bands. The 

 opercular apparatus is large, with a rounded margin and 

 large gill-aperture. There are five branchiostegal rays on 

 the right and six on the left. The pseudobranchise are in- 

 visible and glandular. The first gill-ray is so slender and 



fine, according to Heckel and Kner, that it might be -pig. 170. HEAD OF 



easily overlooked ; the hindermost ray is very wide and SU^ABOVB EKI ' SEEN 

 flat. Both the belly and back are broad and rounded ; 



the ventral profile is rather the more convex of the two, and the depth of the 

 tail exceeds the thickness of the body. The somewhat long dorsal fin begins 

 behind the middle of the body; its branched rays are equal in length. The 

 anal fin has a short base and is below the hinder part of the dorsal ; it is 

 rounded. The ventral fins, which are narrow, are just in front of the 

 beginning of the dorsal and reach back to the vent. The pectoral fin is as long 

 as the ventral, and its free border is similarly rounded. The middle rays of 

 the caudal fin are the longest, making the outline of the 

 fin rounded ; it is not quite so long as the head. The 

 fins constitute characters as distinctive as anything in the 

 structure of this fish. 



Except the point of the snout and jaws, the whole head 

 is covered with scales, so that it passes insensibly into the 



back ( Fi s- 17 )- On the bod y the scales are lar e and 



nearly circular, but the attached basal margin is somewhat 

 truncated (Fig. 171). The scales cover each other like roofing-slates, are soft, 

 not firmly attached, with very fine concentric lines and no radiating rays. 



The lateral line is marked only by a paler band, descending from the 

 neck down the side of the body, and shows no visible pores. It is roughly 

 parallel to the back and nearer to it than to the ventral margin. 



