130 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



taken from a young specimen. We make the following additions to the oi'iginal 

 descrijition : 



Head 3| to 3| in length. Eye 4| to 5 in head; snout 3| to 4; interorbital 

 (bone) 3| to 4; maxillary 3 to 3|; third dorsal spine If to 2|. 



In addition to the differences already noted as distinguishing this species from 

 0. straho, we note the lighter pectorals and ventrals, which are colorless or only 

 slightly dusky. In 0. straho the pectorals are dark, and the ventrals, with the excep- 

 tion of a white outer ray, are nearly black. 



243. Ophioscion simulus Gilbert. 



Plate XIS, Fig. 38. 

 Ophioscion simu/iis Gilbert (Jordan & Evermann, 1898, p. 1449). 



Dorsal X-I, 26; anal II, 7; pectoral 18 or 19; pores in lateral line 50; smaller scales not 

 here enumerated cover the base of the caudal fin. Head 3^^ in length, equaling depth. 



Body more elongate and less compressed than in other species, the head especially charac- 

 terized by rounded outlines; preorbitals turgid; snout blunt, scarcely at all compressed, evenly rounded 

 in all directions. Top of head everywhere transversely convex, not at all depressed over the orbits. 

 A scarcely noticeable depression at occiput, with the exception of which the profile rises slowly and 

 evenly to the front of the dorsal fin. Predorsal region transversely evenly convex, not compressed to 

 a ridge, except immediately in front of first dorsal spine. Dorsal and ventral outlines about equally 

 curved, the base of anal fin but little more oblique than the normal contour at that point. Mouth 

 wide, broadly U-shaped as seen from below, overpassed by the bluntly rounded snout for a distance 

 (taken axially) equal to half diameter of pupil. The cleft of the mouth is moderately oblique, the 

 maxillary reaching the vertical from middle of pupil. Length of maxillary (measured from front of 

 premaxillaries) 3^ in head. Mandible with a broad band of villiform teeth of uniform size. Pre- 

 maxillaries with a similar broad villiform band, preceded by an outer series of small canines, close-set, 

 smaller in size than in related species. Preorbital of moderate width, swollen and turgid as in Pachy- 

 tirus, its width 6J in head. Posterior nostril large, circular, without trace of raised membranous edge. 

 Anterior nostril vertically elliptical, small, with raised margin. Oblique diameter of eye, 4| in head. 

 Preopercular margin with 14 to 16 spinous teeth (in the type specimen), the upper ones minute, 

 increasing in size towards preopercular angle, around which they evenly radiate. None of them are 

 conspicuously enlarged, and the lowermost is not directed abruptly downward. Gill-rakers short, the 

 longest about equaling diameter of posterior nostril, 7 movable ones on upper limb of arch, 13 below. 



F"irst dorsal high, of very slender flexible spines, except the first two. The second spine is 

 strong and rigid, as long as the fourth, contained if times in the head; the third spine the longest, 

 reaching when declined to base of the spine of second dorsal, its length i| in head. From the third, 

 the spines decrease rapidly, so that the distal margin of the fin is subvertical. The tenth spine is the 

 shortest, its membrane reaching base only of the eleventh, which belongs to the second dorsal and 

 is two-thirds as long as diameter of the eye. Second dorsal high, the longest ray equaling length 

 of snout and eye. Caudal sublanceolate, mutilated so that its exact shape cannot be ascertained. The 

 middle rays are considerably longer than the outer, and are at least three-fourths length of head. 

 Second anal spine long and strong, its measured length if in head, slightly greater than that of first 

 soft rays, which however project beyond it. Outer ventral ray produced in a very short filament, 

 about one-fourth diameter of eye. Ventral spine 2| in head, the longest ray, exclusive of filament, 

 i^ in head, reaching five-sevenths distance from its base to vent. Pectorals i^ in head, reaching 

 vertical from tips of ventrals. 



