Jordan and Ever man n. Fishes of North America. 375 



618. VERMA KENDALLI (Gilbert). 



Head less than of trunk, contained 6f in trunk, body 1 in tail; snout 

 sharp ; cleft of mouth 4 in head ; gill slits small, inferior, directly trans- 

 verse (as in Cocculaimberbis), the isthmus very narrow, not as wide as eye, 

 which is 2 in snout ; tail sharp-pointed ; eye before middle of gape. Col- 

 oration plain brownish, speckled. Coast of Florida, in rather deep water. 

 (Named for William C. Kendall, assistant in the U. S. Fish Commission.) 

 S])lj<'l>riDK'!n<s I;i<ln/li, GILBERT, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., ix, 1889, (1891), 310, off west coast 

 of Florida, 25 34' N. 82 fXX W., iu 25 fathoms. (Type, No. 44304. Coll. Kendall.) 



177. LETHARCHUS, Goode & Bean. 



Letharchm, GOODE & BEAN, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1882, 437, (velifer). 



Anal fin wanting; no pectoral fins; dorsal fin well developed, beginning 

 on the head ; gill openings subinferior, converging; anterior nostrils tubu- 

 lar; tongue slender. One species known. (/Uyftywu, to forget; ap^6f, 

 anus, for anal fin.) 



614. LETHARCHUS TELIFER, Goode & Bean. 



Teeth uniserial on jaws and vomer, small and directed inward and back- 

 ward; snout long and pointed, projecting f its length beyond the lower 

 jaw ; gill openings subinferior, almost horizontal, equal to lower jaw, 

 three times the breadth of the isthmus; nostrila not prominent, without 

 tube; anterior under the tip of snout; lateral line distinct, extending 

 forward in a curve, ending in a pore on the top of the head, just in front 

 of the beginning of the dorsal fin ; head 6 in trunk ; tail pointed, 2| in 

 total length ; cleft of mouth 4 in head ; snout 9 in head and twice the 

 diameter of the eye. Plum-colored, head lighter, throat pale ; dorsal fin 

 white, edged with a broad band of black. Coast of Florida, in rather 

 deep water. Known only from the Snapper Banks off Pensacola and 

 Tampa, (velum, sail ; fero, I bear.) 



Lelharchus velifer, GOODE & BEAN, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1832, 437, West Florida. (Type, No. 

 31458. Coll. Kaiser & Martin.) JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 896, 1883 ; JORDAN, Proc. U. 

 S. Nat. Mus., 1884, 33 ; JORDAN & DAVIS, I. c., 616. 



178. MYRICHTHYS, Girard. 



Pisoodonophif, KAUP, Apodes, 15, 1856, (in part ; not type, as restricted by BLKEKEK, which is P. 



cancrivorus). 



W/richthys, GIRAIJD, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1859, 58, (tigrinus). 

 Ophisurus, SwAiNsoN, BLEEKER, etc., (not of LACEPEDE, nor of Risso, nor KAUP, who restrict 



the name to 0. serpens). 



Teeth mostly blunt and molar ; pectoral fins small ; dorsal beginning on 

 the head before gill opening; otherwise essentially as in Ophichthus. 

 Species numerous, found in most tropical seas. Coloration variegated. 

 (juvpof, Myrus; i^flvf, fish.) 



a. Spots on body large, blackish, without pale centers ; all of them circular or nearly so ; the 



ground color paler. T..;IUNUS, 615. 



aa. Spots on body large, black, most of them with a distinct pale center, the ground color 



p a l er OCTJLATUt., 616. 



aaa. Spots on body large, round, nearly whitish in color, the ground color dark. 



ACUMINATU8, 617. 



