lO SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, III 



the one in upper jaw the broader, mostly exposed with mouth closed ; 

 preorbital scarcely as broad as pupil ; gill rakers short, expanded at 

 tips, spiny, 12 on lower limb and 4 on the upper one of first arch ; 

 lateral line incomplete, ending near midbody length, or about 2 

 diameters of eye behind tip of pectoral, with a long low arch an- 

 teriorly, being highest under origin of second dorsal; scales small, 

 extending forward to margin of snout and on chin, but not on fins 

 except on base of caudal, 8 longitudinal rows between lateral line 

 and middle of first dorsal ; dorsal fins 2, definitely separate, the first 

 short, more or less triangular in shape, its middle rays longest, 2.33 

 in head, the second long and low, with a straight margin ; caudal fin 

 small, round, about as long as snout and half the eye ; anal fin similar 

 to second dorsal; ventral fin narrow, with 6 rays, the outer rays 

 produced, the second the longest, reaching about an eye's diameter 

 beyond origin of anal, but failing to reach tip of pectoral by about 

 an equal distance, definitely shorter than head, 5.3 in standard length ; 

 pectoral rather large, pointed, shorter than head, 5.3 in standard 

 length. 



Color uniform gray, except for underneath surface in advance of 

 origin of anal which is darker brown; margin of gill covers quite 

 dark; dorsal pale, with a brownish margin; caudal rather darker 

 brown than body, anal similar to dorsal, except that it has a darker 

 margin ; ventral dark at base, otherwise colorless ; pectoral brownish 

 like the body. 



This apparently new species is represented by a single specimen 

 (U.S.N. M. No. 144255), 265 mm. in total and 243 mm. in standard 

 length. It seems to be nearest P. nematopus Gilbert, known from 

 many specimens taken at depths ranging from 71 to 221 fathoms in 

 the Gulf of CaHfornia, of which five "type" specimens, 78 to 147 mm. 

 in total length (U.S.N.M. No. 46555), are at hand for comparison. 

 The most outstanding difference between those specimens and the 

 one from Peru is the difference in the number of pectoral rays. This 

 and other differences are shown in the parallel comparison that 

 follows. Some of the other differences, consisting of proportions 

 such as the depth of the body and the length of the ventral fins, may 

 be affected by age and growth, and therefore are not entirely reliable. 



Another closely related species is P. longipes, known from speci- 

 mens taken in 127 to 695 fathoms in Panama Bay or in the vicinity 

 thereof, of which one of the "type" specimens, 113 mm. in total 

 length (U.S.N.M. No. 57876), is at hand. The Peruvian specimen 

 differs from this one in the greater number of pectoral rays, just as 



