84 bulletin: museum of compakative zoology. 



Origin of dorsal posterior to gill-openings by a distance equal to lower 

 jaw, or by a distance equal to seven times the length of the pectorals ; 

 eye 2.5 in snout, its location mid-way between tip of snout and angle 

 of jaws; angle of jaws mid-way between tip of snout and gill-openings; 

 gill-openings rather wide, their location lateral. Caudal tip without 

 fins, but with the dorsal end anal, coming very near to the tip. The 

 pectoral is microscopic being one half the length of the eye. 



Color in alcohol: — dull yellowish, the bodj^ everj'where blotched and 

 spotted with dark brown, the spots on body usually larger than eye, 

 some as large as length of snout; these show a decided tendency to 

 form indistinct brown bands on the body in which the smaller dark 

 spots show rather distinctly; snout and lower jaw black; head covered 

 with spots smaller than the eye; some scattered spots on ventral sur- 

 face; fins colored similar to body. 



Total length 580 m.; head 42 m.; to anal pore 277 m.; to origin of 

 dorsal 63 m.; length of pectoral 2.5 m.; length of eye 5 m.; width of 

 gill-openings 6 m.; length of snout 10 m. 



Related to Q. cvionthos (Jordan & BoUman) but in this species the 

 origin of the dorsal is but one length of the pectorals from tip of pec- 

 torals. The eye is nearer tip of snout in Q. parvipinna, the head is 

 shorter, and the pectorals much shorter. 



Type. — M. C. Z. 9205. Acapulco, Mexico, August, 1872. Hassler 

 Expedition. 



Ophichthys serpentinus, sp. nov. 



Body elongate, cylindrical, almost round in the middle section, 

 tapering somewhat to the small pointed head; the upper jaw pro- 

 jecting; tail tapering evenly from near the center to the acute bare 

 tip; depth at anal pore 2.1 in head; tail almost twice the length of 

 trunk, i. c. lacking only one half length of head of being twice as long 

 as trunk. 



Head small, conical; its width being 1.5 in height; its length 4.8 

 in trunk, and 15.3 in total length. Mouth rather small, the length 

 from tip of snout to angle of jaws 2.75 in head; the mouth closing 

 fully. 



Maxillary teeth biserial, the outer row of about twenty-three small, 

 rounded, pointed teeth; the inner row of about twenty larger, cylin- 

 drical, pointed teeth that are fixed and nondepressible; premaxillary 

 teeth far forward, uniserial, three in each side. Vomer with six 



