8o6 . CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



from chin to caudal fin; dorsal outline gently and evenly 

 curved from snout to caudal peduncle. 



Mouth terminal and nearly horizontal, maxillary reach- 

 ing past pupil nearly to posterior edge of orbit; jaws sub- 

 equal; teeth in narrow villiform bands on jaws, vomer 

 and palatines; process of premaxillary prominent, extend- 

 ing between and above nasal spines ; preopercular process 

 well developed, long, near its tip a very small second 

 spine is developed, making the process befurcate, 3 or 4 

 short spines below on edge of preopercle ; opercle end- 

 ing in a flap; top of head with dermal flaps, one over an- 

 terior margin of eye, and a group of 2 or 3 over posterior 

 margin; a few shorter ones on nape; mucous pores 

 around mandible, large; opercle, upper part of preoper- 

 cle, top of head to eyes, and the orbital ring covered 

 with sharply ctenoid scales, upper part of eyeball with 

 small rough scales, balance of head naked. 



Lateral line with a row of rough plates ; upper half of 

 body completely covered with scales, their anterior edge 

 imbedded, coarsely ctenoid on their posterior edge; lower 

 half of body naked. 



Dorsal spines slender, those in the middle highest, the 

 fin without a notch, the longest spines reaching to front 

 of soft dorsal where fin is depressed, well separated from 

 soft dorsal; first dorsal ray inserted over first anal ray, 

 the fin longer and higher than anal; pectorals somewhat 

 pointed posteriorly, reaching just past the space between 

 dorsals; ventrals inserted behind the base of pectorals a 

 distance equal to the length of snout, their tips reaching 

 to the front of the anal; caudal slender, rounded behind. 



Color olive gray, belly dusky; back with dark cross 

 shades, irregular in number and size, below lateral line 

 light with small wavy bars running across to within a 

 short distance of anal fin, then fading out; head with cross 



