66 



Field Columbian Museum — Zoology, Vol. VII. 



Figure 7. Iridic meyeri Bean. 



and scarcely one-fifth as long as the head. The upper lip is so 

 fvill as to conceal the teeth, its width equalling more than one-half 

 the diameter of the eye. The lower lip also is much fuller than in the 

 Bermudian Iridios generally, its width being more than one-half its 

 length. Head -/i of total to base of caudal rays ; depth about li ; eye M 

 length of head, snout %. Least width of caudal peduncle Va of its 

 least height. Anterior profile of head strongly convex, the mouth on a 

 level with the lower axil of pectoral. Opercular flap broad, its width 

 equal to its length, which is % of head. About four rows of scales in 

 front of the dorsal fin, the scales not meeting on the median line, the 

 nape covered only with very rudimentary scales. The lateral line be- 

 gins in the fifth row of scales, curves up to about the third until it 

 reaches to below the eighth ray of the soft dorsal, where it curves 

 sharply down to the median line, its straight portion piercing six 

 scales. The tubes are almost all simple, but two on one side and 

 three on the other have a short branch. D. ix, ii ; A. in, ii ; scales 

 3-27-9. 



The spinous dorsal begins slightly in advance of the pectoral. 

 The first spine is '4 as long as the head, the fourth, and longest, 

 nearly Vn as long as the head. The longest dorsal ray is % as long 

 as the head and about % of total length to caudal base. The la.st 

 ray is nearly as long as this. The anal base is as long as the head, 

 and three times the length of its longest ray. The anal spines are 

 graduated, the third being nearly as long as the first soft ray. The 

 pectoral reaches to the eighth scale of the lateral line, and not quite to 

 a vertical at the vent. The ventral is as long as the postorbital part 

 of the head: it extends about as far back as the pectoral. The 

 caudal is a little convex when fully expanded, but the lower rays are 

 slightly larger than the upper. 



In spirits the body is dusky in its upper half, pale below. A 



