168 GOBIES OF THE PHILIPPINES 



angle ; the second dorsal was crossed by three rows of red ocelli, 

 its margin reddish brown; the anal had a basal row of large 

 blue spots, then a bar of red, another row of blue, then pinkish 

 yellow fading into a marginal band of red; the caudal had a 

 central band of red, with the upper margin red, the lower 

 black ; the anal was black. 



In alcohol specimens fade to pale gray or to yellowish brown, 

 the ocelli and blue spots on head becoming pearly; the black 

 lateral spots remain, but the fins lose their brilliant coloration, 

 only the black remaining. 



Here described from a specimen collected by me at Polillo 

 and three specimens collected by Seale at Cebu, Puerto Prin- 

 cesa, and Balabac. They range in length from 38 to 56 mil- 

 limeters. 



This beautifully marked species was first collected by Ehren- 

 berg in the Red Sea ; later it was described under another name 

 by Bleeker from Goram. Steindachner described specimens 

 from "Insulae Philippinae," and Giinther recorded it from Ta- 

 hiti and the island of Maiao, which I take to be one of the small 

 islands of the New Hebrides. It is apparently not very com- 

 mon anywhere. 



74. OPLOPOMUS VERGENS Jordan and Seale 



Oplopomus vergens JORDAN and SEALE, Bull. Bur. Fisheries 26 (1907) 

 44, fig. 17. 



Dorsal VI, 1-9 or 10 ; anal I, 9 or 10 ; there are 28 to 30 scales 

 in a longitudinal series, 9 or 10 in a transverse series, and about 

 10 rows before the first dorsal. 



The body elongate, laterally flattened, the ventral profile 

 arched, the upper much less so, the depth 3.8 to 4.3 times in 

 length; the depth of head much greater than its breadth, its 

 profile moderately convex, its length 3.4 to 3.7 times in total 

 length ; the blunt, steeply inclined snout 3.6 to 3.8 times in head ; 

 the eyes very high up, dorsolateral, obliquely set, their diam- 

 eter equal to length of snout; they are very close together, the 

 interorbital 2.5 times in an eye diameter; the mouth strongly 

 oblique, the lower jaw a little projecting, the posterior angle 

 of maxillary beneath or scarcely reaching front margin of eye; 

 the teeth of outer row in upper jaw fixed, enlarged, and slight- 

 ly curved inward ; behind them are two rows of minute depress- 

 ible teeth, the outer row in lower jaw short, the teeth larger 

 than in upper row, ending in one or two pairs of backward- 



