1244 Bulletin //, United States National Museum. 



XENICHTHYIN^: : 



dd. Palatines without teeth; vomer with minute teeth in a O^^P 6 ^ patch; 

 teeth in jaws very small, equal. Body compressed, covered with 

 small, thin, ctenoid, silvery scales; top of head, cheeks, opercles, part 

 of preorbital and crown scaly; mouth small, oblique, with small 

 recurved teeth in jaws; preorbital narrow, a rhomboid patch of small 

 teeth on vomer ; few teeth or none on the tongue ; gill rakers long 

 and slender; dorsal fins nearly separate, the anterior of slender 

 spines, the soft rays scaly. Intestinal canal short (the pyloric coeca 

 not examined). Skull with the crests conspicuous, the temporal 

 running forward to join the supraoccipital. 

 m. Dorsal rays X or XI-I, 12 to 14, the spinous part of the fin at 



least half longer than soft part; anal rays III, 10 or 11. 

 n. Dorsal fins entirely separated, interval between them f diam- 

 eter of eye; spinous dorsal half longer than soft; nostrils 

 small, close together. XENOCYS, 533. 



nn. Dorsal fins connected at base, the spinous part about 

 double length of soft part. XENISTIUS, 534. 



mm. Dorsal rays XI-I, 18 or 19, the soft part longer than the spinous 

 part; anal rays about III, 18. XENICHTHYS, 535. 



aa. Vomer and palatines toothless; one or both jaws with strong canines; no molars; 



preopercle entire; dorsal continuous. 



o. Dorsal spines 10; scales large, 50 in lateral line, those on cheeks in 3 rows; 

 mouth moderate, the jaws subequal; fins usually with filaments. 



NEMIPTEBUS, 536. 



523. HOPLOPAGRUS, Gill. 

 Hoplopagrus, GILL, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1862, 253 (guntheri). 



Anterior nostril remote from the other, close to the premaxillary, in the 

 end of the barbel or tube; vomer with about 3 coarse molar teeth; teeth 

 of jaws coarse and blunt, the lateral teeth molar; scales large; gill-rakers 

 few; dorsal spines continuous wjth the soft rays which are scaly at the 

 base; lower pharyngeals narrow, with small conical teeth; skull and 

 general anatomy essentially as in Lutianus and Neomcenis. 



Only one species of this remarkable generic type is known. With a 

 close resemblance in nearly all respects to Neomcvnis apodus and other typi- 

 cal species, it differs strikingly from all other fishes of this type in the 

 structure of the nostrils and in the dentition. (onXov, armor; itdypos, 

 porgy.) 



1628. HOPLOPAGRUS GUNTHERI, Gill. 



(PARGO.) 



Head 2f; depth 2 to 2J; eye 4|- (in yong); snout 2. D. X, 14; A. 

 Ill, 9. Scales 6-47-16. Pectoral 1^ in head, reaching to first anal spine; 

 anal 1|; longest soft dorsal ray equals longest anal ray. Body oblong- 

 ovate, short, deep, and compressed, the back arched, the body abruptly 

 contracted to the base of the short caudal peduncle; anterior profile 

 slightly and evenly convex. Snout rather long and pointed ; mouth small, 

 the maxillary scarcely reaching to front of orbit, its length 2f to 3 in head ; 

 teeth in jaws arranged as in Lutianus, but coarse and blunt, the lateral 

 teeth of both jaws rounded and molarlike, more blunt in large examples; 

 upper jaw with about 2 coarse, rather long canines; vomer with about 3 

 to 5 coarse molar teeth; palatines and tongue toothless; lower jaw rather 



