312 MR. J. Y. JOHNSON ON TRACHICHTHYS DARWINII. [May 22, 



are rough with spinulse, giving a frosted appearance to the fish. 

 The head and all the fins are of a bright-red colour ; the back is 

 brownish red, passing into grey on the sides ; the belly is white. 

 Compared with the length between the snout and the base of the 

 caudal fin, the height is as 1 to 2\. 



The head is obtuse truncate and arched between the eyes ; the 

 muzzle short, rounded, and protrusile. Compared with the total 

 length, the head is as 1 to 3£. The mouth is very large aud nearly 

 vertical ; its superior border is formed by the styliform premaxillary, 

 which is widely notched at the symphysis. The stouter and longer 

 maxillary is much dilated below, where it is furnished with a large 

 supplementary striate plate, as in Beryx. The maxillary reaches 

 backwards to the vertical from the middle of the eye. The lower 

 jaw fits iuside the upper one, and its bones are strongly and deeply 

 striate ; there are two bony knobs at the chin. The premaxillary 

 and mandibulary bones are armed with narrow bands of villiform 

 teeth, those of the innermost row being a little longer than the rest. 

 The greater part of the band on the upper jaw remains outside the 

 mouth when it is closed. The band on the lower jaw is interrupted 

 at the symphysis, and is there much broadened, this part of the 

 band being also left outside of the mouth when it is closed. The 

 bands of villiform teeth on the palatine bones are recurved in front, 

 and there is a very small round patch of similar teeth on the vomer. 

 The toothless black tongue is adherent throughout. The floor and 

 sides of the mouth and the inner sides of the gill-covers are black, 

 or marked with black patches, whilst the palate is red. From the 

 chin there extends along the throat a broad band of corrugated 

 scales, and this band forks behind. 



The nostrils are close together near the upper anterior part of the 

 orbit, the hinder one being larger. The nearly round and mode- 

 rate-sized eye is placed high up, but does not take part in the pro- 

 file ; its diameter is to the head as 1 to 4^ nearly. The suborbitary 

 bones carry several broad radiating crests, which are less prominent 

 than in Hoplostethus. The scales of the nape do not quite reach to 

 the posterior part of the orbit. On the top of the head are several 

 flat roughened bony crests, two of which extend from the nape to 

 the front of the snout, where they terminate in short stout blunt 

 spines in front of the anterior nasal orifice ; and here each sends off 

 a short transverse crest. The former crests converge in front of the 

 middle of their length, and include posteriorly to the point of con- 

 vergence an elongated subtriangular depression, and anteriorly an- 

 other triangular depression. In the nasal region, between these and 

 other crests lying near the superciliary margin, there is a lozenge- 

 shaped depression on each side. The superciliary margin is formed 

 of a similar crest. 



The cheeks are scaly, and the preopercle bears a striate crest near 

 to, and parallel with, its serrulate posterior border, which inclines 

 obliquely downwards and forwards. The under border of the pre- 

 opercle is straight aud serrulate ; and at the angle a long stout 

 striated spine, with spinulose edges and a crest along a portion of its 

 middle, projects backwards, across, and beyond the interopercle, but 



