DIBRANCHUS ASPER. 95 



have t\yo cusps, others three. Large tubercles occur at each side above 

 the iniLldle of the orbit and above its hind margin, also above the nasal sacs 

 and in a series of five at the outer edge of the rostrum the median (ante- 

 rior) one of which is three cusped. On the ventral surface the spines are 

 very small and not in contact. A considerable number of small spines 

 occur on the orbit. Lateral line distinct, deeply channeled; second papilla 

 at each side of the symphysis of the lower jaws situated in front of the 

 space between the first and the third. Fringes on the fleshy lobes between 

 the spines at each side of each papilla of the lateral line feebly developed. 



Fins small ; dorsal origin midway from snout to end of tail, fin two thirds 

 as long as the distance from snout to nape; anal origin to end of snout 

 equal to twice the distance from the first ray of the dorsal to the base 

 of the caudal ; caudal narrow, in length equal to twice the interorbital 

 width of the head, rounded on the hind margin; pectorals .shorter than the 

 caudal, fringed ; ventrals fringed, nearly one third as long as the head, 

 narrow. 



Greyish black, apparently reddish or purplish in life, fins blackish ; 

 lower surface darker. A five-inch specimen described. 



Dibranclius asper sp. n. 



Br. r. 6 ; D. 6 ; A. 4 ; V. 6 ; P. 14 ; C. 9. 



Though in the main this species resembles Dibranchus scaler, Plate 

 XXIV., there is a number of features in which it does not agree with that 

 species. The rostrum is shorter, and hardly extends forward of the lower 

 jaw ; the tubercle on the tip of the snout bends upward and curves back- 

 ward ; the concavity on the top of the snout is deeper ; and the subopercu- 

 lar tubercle is more nearly longitudinal, i.e., it does not bend inward at the 

 end so as to bring the compressed extremity with its pair of spines parallel 

 with the backbone, but one of the spines points toward the gill opening, the 

 other directly outward. In D. scaher the rostrum is longer and extends 

 forward of the lower jaws, the rostral tubercle is straight and protrudes 

 almost horizontally, the concavity on the top of the snout is not so deep, 

 and the subopercular tubercle is bent inward so that the blade-like end 

 extends one of its spines toward the head and the other backward. There 



