DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF GOBIESOX 

 FROM MONTEREY BAY, CALIFORNIA. 



BY SETH EUGENE MEEK AND CHARLES J. PIERSON. 

 [With Plate Ixxi.] 



Gobiesox muscarum n. sp. 



Head 3I in length; depth 8^; dorsal 6; anal 5. 



Body elongate, slender, depressed anteriorly, very nar- 

 row but slightly compressed posteriorly, the greatest width 

 of body immediately behind head, 7 in length. 



Head narrow, much depressed, wider posteriorly. Eye 

 small, its diameter 25^ in interorbital width, 5 in head. 

 Maxillary reaching to the front of the eye, its length less 

 than 3 in head. Teeth in upper jaw conical, acute, 

 curved, forming a crescent-shaped patch, those of the an- 

 terior row enlarged. In the lower jaw is an anterior row 

 of about five broad, entire incisors, placed nearly hori- 

 zontally; behind these a crescent-shaped patch of teeth, 

 similar to those in the upper jaw, becoming canine-like 

 laterally. No evident opercular spine. 



Ventral disk longer than broad; its length i^ in head, 

 6}^ in length. Distance from vent to front of anal 2}4 

 in the distance from vent to disk. 



Pectoral fin broad, short, 25^ in head. Dorsal and 

 anal fins small, the anal slightly in advance. Caudal fin 

 rounded. 



Ground color — in alcohol — light yellowish, paler be- 

 low. Above, everywhere sparsely covered with distinct 

 brownish-red spots about as large as pupil. A lateral 

 band of the same color begins on the front of the snout, 

 where it joins the band of the opposite side, extends 

 through the eye across the opercle to the caudal, becom- 

 ing very indistinct posteriorly. This lateral stripe is in 

 strong contrast with the uniform pale ventral surface. 



Two speciments were dredged in January, 1895, in 



2d Sek., Vol. V. September 25, 1895. 



