VAIMOSA 155 



The body elongate, somewhat flattened before first dorsal, 

 laterally compressed, the head broad, plump-cheeked, a little 

 depressed anteriorly; the dorsal and ventral profiles nearly 

 parallel, the depth 5.5 times, the head 3.6 times in length; the 

 breadth of head exceeds a little the depth of trunk and is 1.25 

 times its own depth ; the profile concave between eyes, the snout 

 steep, 4.5 times in head and a little shorter than eye, which 

 is 3.85 times in head; the eyes very high up, dorsolateral in 

 position, close together, the interorbital 2.6 times in an eye 

 diameter; the mouth large, oblique, the lower jaw and chin very 

 slightly projecting, the lips thick, the posterior angle of maxil- 

 lary below middle of pupil; in the upper jaw is an outer row 

 of slightly enlarged teeth, followed by a band of either two or 

 three rows of minute teeth ; in the lower jaw is a broad band of 

 four rows of small, slender, erect teeth of uniform size; the 

 posterior half of body covered with large ctenoid scales; ante- 

 riorly they become smaller, those before first dorsal very much 

 smaller and passing into cycloid which extend to eyes, the one 

 extending into interorbital space large; about sixteen cycloid 

 scales on opercle; the dorsals far apart, the anterior and 

 middle spines longest, not nearly reaching second dorsal when 

 depressed, 1.6 times in depth and 2.5 times in head; the second 

 dorsal and anal of the same height, the posterior rays longest, 

 falling far short of caudal base when depressed, 1.3 times in 

 depth and twice in head; the broad caudal peduncle twice in 

 head and 1.6 times in its own length, which is 0.8 of the length 

 of head; the somewhat pointed caudal 0.95 of the length of 

 head or 3.8 times in total length; the broadly pointed pectoral 

 0.8 of the length of head and 4.5 times in total length; the 

 round-pointed ventrals are contained nearly 1.8 times in head 

 and fall very far short of reaching the very small cylindrical 

 anal papilla. 



The color in alcohol greenish white, the sides irregularly 

 spotted with blackish brown, with about eight narrow elongate 

 spots in a row on the median lateral line, the last at base of 

 caudal; on top of head, nape, and upper sides are sprinkled 

 circular black dots; a blackish bar passes from eye diagonally 

 downward and forward over angle of mouth and across chin 

 to meet a similar one on the other side; a similar bar passes 

 from cheek to throat to meet its fellow from the other side; 

 two short bars go downward from eye to join the one on cheek ; 

 a black blotch on forward part of opercle and another on upper 

 part of pectoral base; two black bars on upper anterior part 



