Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 2309 



2645. ASTROSCOPES ZEPHYREUS, Gilbert &. Starks. 



Head, without lower jaw, 2; depth 3|. D. V, 13; A. 14; scales 84; eye 

 12 in head; maxillary 2; pectoral If; second dorsal spine 7; highest dor- 

 sal ray 2 ; highest anal ray 3 ; caudal If. Body robust, widest at occi- 

 put, slightly compressed posteriorly; anteriorly subeylindrical. Head 

 very large and broad, wider than the body ; mouth large, vertical, a fringe 

 of barbels curving Over mouth on each jaw; length a little greater than 

 the diameter of the eye; tongue very large and fleshy, forming a pad 

 under the membrane of lower jaw, which projects forward somewhat; 

 teeth conical, small and movable, in many bands in upper jaw; in lower 

 jaw the teeth are larger and in 2 or 3 rows; vorner and palatines with 

 teeth; eyes very small but prominent, set on top of head; interorbital 

 very wide, 4 times as wide as the eye; bones on top of head coarsely 

 granular; Y-shaped ridge on top of head conspicuous, on each side of 

 which is a broad naked area, the form of these and other bones of the 

 head exactly as in A. y-grcecum; edges of nostrils closely fringed, anterior 

 nostril round, the ridge between it and eye not very high or conspicuous; 

 posterior nostril ending in a long curved furrow which runs obliquely 

 across the naked area behind eyes ; at its posterior end it turns sharply 

 forward, its length 2f times the diameter of the eye ; 2 very short blunt 

 spines in front of the eye; surface of the opercle, preopercle, and humeral 

 process granular, not so rough as in Astroscopus y-grwcum; gill rakers not 

 developed; pseudobranchije very small. Head entirely scaleless; belly 

 naked below a line drawn from first anal ray to the middle of the pectoral 

 base ; fins without scales ; scales small and nearly square, grown together 

 side by side, forming series of oblique plates. Width of pectoral at base 

 slightly less than ^ length of head, the lower rays very short and gradu- 

 ated to the long upper rays, the fin pointed and slightly turned up, 

 its tip reaching to the vertical from base of the third dorsal ray; the ven- 

 tral rays thick and swollen, the inner rays the longest, its tip reaching 

 about midway between its base and tips of pectorals; origin of fin in 

 front of pectorals a distance equal to the Avidth of pectoral base; soft dor- 

 sal somewhat higher than anal, its posterior rays reaching to the vertical 

 from base of last anal ray; tip of last anal ray nearly reaching to the 

 base of caudal rays; caudal truncate or slightty rounded; a fold of skin 

 along middle line of belly from ventrals to vent. Color dark brown 

 above, paler below ; upper parts with many round white spots of various 

 sixes, edged with rings of dark brown; spinous dorsal black, light pos- 

 teriorly; soft dorsal light at base, the ends of the rays with black and 

 white stripes; pectoral and anal dusky with light edge; caudal with 

 longitudinal black and white stripes. Pacific coast of Mexico. One speci- 

 men, numbered 333, in the Leland Stanford Junior University Museum, 

 collected by the Albatross at Magdalena Bay, Lower California. It is 12 

 inches in length. A distinct electric shock was given by this fish when 

 alive, the electric organs being in the fleshy areas on top of head behind 



