00 THE PLAGIOSTOMIA. 



Dorsals smaller than the ventrals, equal, hinder margin nearly straight, 

 angles not produced ; origin of first dorsal at a vertical from the end of the ven- 

 tral base; origin of second the length of its base forward of that of the anal, or 

 nearlj?^ twice its length backward of the base of the first. Anal narrow, as long 

 as the subcaudal, or longer. Caudals narrow. Claspers short, stout, the outer 

 joints extended beyond the ventral fin. Scales small, with a median keel. 

 A tubercular ridge on the middle of the back from head to tail, broken by the 

 dorsals and a space as long as the orbit in front of each. At each side of this ridge 

 along the upper part of each flank there is most often a less developed ridge. 

 The amount of development in these ridges varies greatly in individuals from the 

 same locahty. 



Greyish to rusty brown, with narrow streaks or series of brown spots simi- 

 lar in positions to such as might outline the cross bands on C. plagiosum. Speci- 

 mens from Penang are much darker and show larger numbers of spots and 

 intermediate series on the snout and over the body. 



Distinguished from C. plagiosum by smaller dorsals, longer anal, shorter 

 subcaudal, narrower geneial folds, and the coloration. 



Specimens described here are from Penang and Singapore. Adult males 

 measure eighteen inches. 



Parascyllium. 



Parascyllium Gill, 1861, Ann. N. Y. lye, 7, p. 412. 



Body long, slender, cavity less than half the total. Head short; snout 

 short, blunt. Nostrils connected with the mouth by nasoral grooves; anterior 

 narial valves with a cirrus, widely separated by the preoral attachment. Mouth 

 with well-developed lower lip; no geneial fold. Teeth small, lanceolate, median 

 cusp longer, lateral cusps small or absent. Gill openings narrow, fourth and 

 fifth close together above the pectoral, fifth widest. Spiracle small, below hinder 

 part of orbit. Fins all small; first dorsal above the space between the ventral 

 and the anal; second behind the anal; subcaudal short, not lobed. 



Off coasts of Australia and Tasmania. 



Brown, spotted with black on the fins and with white on the body 



a darker transverse band on the nape . . . variolatum (page 67) 



Brown, spotted with black on body and fins 



darker cross bands on nape and body . . . collare (page 67) 



