HOLCOMYCTERONUS DIGITTATUS. 163 



nape, and tapers to slender in the tail. Head massive, deeper than wide, 

 convex on the crown, covered by scales. Snout short, broad, thick, blunt. 

 Mouth large, anterior; iiitennaxillaiy forming the upper border. Teeth 

 small, equal, very numerous, in wide villiform bands on jaws, vomer, pala- 

 tines, basibranchials, and pharyngeals. Nostrils small, lateral, in front of the 

 eye, with a groove, in which there are sensory papilla?, from the hinder part 

 of the anterior nostril down and forward to the lip. E^'es small, lateral, with- 

 out an orbital fold. A large, strong, horizontally directed opercular spine; 

 no other spiu'js on the head. Gill openings wide ; membranes not united, 

 free from the isthmus. Gills four, a slit behind the fourth ; laminae short ; 

 rakers well developed, niunerous. Pseudobranchiae small. Branchiostegal 

 rays eight. An air bladder. Pectoral fins intermediate in form between 

 those of Neobythites and those of Dicrolene, some of the lower rays be- 

 ing free for a considerable portion of the length. Ventrals small, a short 

 distance apart, at the humeral .symphysis, each composed of two distinct 

 rays. Vertical fins united ; dorsal and anal very long ; caudal narrow. 

 Scales small, thin. Lateral line rudimentary or absent. 



Holcomycteronus digittatus sp. n. 

 Bate XA'A'FI. fig. 1 ; Plate LXXVI. fig. 2, Led. Syst. 



Br. r. 8; D. 105-121; A. 89-lOG ; V. 2 ; P. 16-17; C. 8; LI. 129-147; 

 Ltr. 15 + 21. 



In the specimen described the total length is fourteen inches; the depth 

 of the body or the length of the head is about one sixth of the total. Form 

 stout, massive anteriorly, compressed, tapering regularly to become very 

 slender near the caudal fin. Head broad, depressed, crown convex, nape 

 high. Snout broad, blunt, two and one half times as long as the eye, like 

 the balance of the head covered with scales. Mouth large,' wide, anterior ; 

 jaws nearly equal, lower included. Intermaxillary separating the maxillary 

 from the edge of the mouth. Maxillaries long, reaching one diameter of 

 the eye farther backward than the orbit, scaly in the posterior half, broader 

 than the eye at the hind extremity. Teeth small, equal, in broad villiform 

 bands on jaws, palatines, vomer, and basibranchials. Palatine and basi- 

 branchial bands wide ; vomerine broadly V-shaped with the branches back- 

 ward and somewhat curved outwards. Eye small, two and one half times 

 in the length of the snout, three and one half times in the width of the in- 



