Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 2091 



body; ventrals as long as head without postorbital part; vent nearer 

 tips than bases of ventrals; beginning of dorsal nearly midway of total 

 length ; anal under dorsal but a little shorter ; length of caudal 5-J- or 6 

 in length of body; second dorsal ray longest, equal to postorbital part 

 of head; longest anal ray less than $ of head. Lateral line 40. Plates on 

 breast about 14. Color dusky above, whitish below; a dark stripe on 

 snout, continued on opercle ; a few indistinct dark blotches on side of 

 head; axillary region dusky; pectoral with 3 or 4 imperfect crossbars; 

 body with 3 indistinct dusky cross bars, the middle one extending on 

 middle of dorsal lin; tail with 2 dusky bars, 1 anteriorly, the other termi- 

 nal, with a dirty yellowish area between them; ventrals and anal pale. 

 Probably a young individual. Longest known individual, which served 

 as the type, was 70 mm. (about 2* inches). (Bean.) Coasts of northern 

 Alaska. (Named for Dr. Albert Giinther, keeper of the British Museum of 

 Natural History.) 



Aspidophoroides yiintheri,* BEAN, Proc. U.S.Nat. Mus. 1885,74, northern Alaska (Type, 

 No. 37032. Coll. Lieut Gr. M. Stoney) ; JORDAN, Cat. Fishes N. A., 113, 1885. 



2481. ASPIDOPHOROIDES MOXOPTEBYGIUS t (Bloch) 

 (SEA POACHER.) 



Br. 6; D.5 or 6; A. 5 or 6; P.9; V.3 (I, 2); C. 10 or 11; Pyloric cseca 

 4 or 5 (2 individuals). Width of body at base of pectorals 8 in length; 

 dorsal face concave- from occiput to dorsal; ventrolateral ridges fairly 

 prominent, but these series lie entirely on ventral side of body anteriorly 

 and converge to a single plate between ventrals and vent. The ridge 

 of the inferior lateral series, instead of disappearing anteriorly, is lower 

 down than usual, becomes prominent anteriorly and runs to lower end 

 of base of pectorals, thus forming the inferior angle of body, which is 

 markedly 4-hedral in front. Plates in dorsal series 46 to 48; between 

 veutrals and anal 16 or 17 pairs ; between last ray of dorsal and first me- 

 dian plate 1 to 3 pairs ; 2 or 3 pairs between last anal ray and first median 

 plate. A small plate between ventrals, a larger one between ventrals and 

 vent; a variable number (3 to 8) of small plates behind and beside vent; 

 plates of breast radially striate, the two median ones larger than the rest; 

 a few small plates on hinder median part of gill membranes, and on narrow 

 under side of mandible ; 2 large plates with raised centers in front of and 



* This species agrees with the measurements of A. olriki, Liitken, and with the colora- 

 tion as far as it is possible to j udge ; it differs from A . olriki only in these recorded characters : 

 The nasal spines are very small, the longest anal ray is shorter than in the figures of 

 A. olriki, and the pectoral rays number 12, while they range from 13 to 15 in A. olriki. 

 But in none of these respects does it differ more from Liitken's descriptions and figures of 

 A. olriki from Greenland and from Kara Sea, in some respects apparently less, than these 

 differ from each other. Each of the localities is about of the earth's circumference from 

 the other, and A. guntheri may be only a variety of olriki, which would then be a circum- 

 polar species; if this view should ultimately prove untenable, Liitken's Kara Sea speci- 

 mens will have nearly as good a claim to specific distinction as the type of A. guntherihas. 



t Diagnosis: Body very slender, depressed in front, nearly 4-hedral anteriorly; depth f 

 of width, the latter 8 in length ; caudal peduncle very long, 6-hedral subterete ; head long, 

 tapering forward, 5f to 6 in length of body; plates in dorsal series about 48 ; between occi- 

 put and dorsal fin 19 to 21 ; from ventrals to anal 16 or 17 pairs; first dorsal absent; bar- 

 bels none; gill membranes free; median rostral plate small, unarmed. Nasal spines very 

 strong, diverging; no other spines on head or body, Color, brownish, obscurely banded 

 with dark. 



