30 U-S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 284 



five lateral, external openings to the sensory canal in the preopercle. 

 Dorsally the preopercle is external to the dorsoposterior portion of 

 the hyomandibular. Somewhat below its dorsal end, the preopercle 

 lies partially internal to a ventral extension of the hyomandibular. 

 Anteroventrally the preopercle fits closely into a groove on the quad- 

 rate's posterior margin. 



Upper jaw (figs. 1, 7). — The premaxillaries are thin bones each 

 consisting of a ventral, ventrally concave, elongate portion (the body 

 of the premaxillary) and a slender, bladelike ascending process. Each 

 ascending process and respective concave portion is a single bone, 

 though only weakly joined. (Greenwood et al.;1966, misquoted Thiele, 

 1965, in stating that the blenniid premaxillary ascending process was 

 separate from the remainder of the premaxillary.) Each ascending 

 process arises from two points, anterior and posterior, on the body 

 of its respective premaxillary. There are openings through the body 

 of the premaxillary just lateral and mesial to the base of each ascending 

 process. The two premaxillaries are not in close contact but are sepa- 

 rated by a relatively broad area of connective tissue. The ascending 

 processes extend dorsally to a point between the ventral ends of the 

 nasal bones. A small sphere of cartilage (rostral, but not to be con- 

 fused with the rostral cartilage of the more primitive fishes) attaches 

 to the posterodorsal ends of the ascending processes. The dorso- 

 lateral surface of each premaxillary bears a number of fine, short bony 

 spurs. The dorsal portion of the body of each premaxUlary (the 

 "premaxillary crest" of Norman, 1943) lies external to the bases of 

 the majority of the premaxillary teeth on its respective side. The 

 basal portions of the functional premaxillary teeth (the teeth num- 

 bering about 180) are arranged in a linear close-set series and are 

 loosely suspended in a continuous band of connective tissue attached 

 to the ventral surface of the premaxillaries. The teeth and connective 

 tissue collectively are called herein the "premaxillary dental plate." 

 None of the teeth are in direct contact with the bone of the premax- 

 illary. The lateral ends of the dental plate extend beyond the lateral 

 end of the premaxillary on each side. Dorsal to the functional (ven- 

 tralmost) series of teeth and imbedded in the connective tissue, there 

 are about 10 interrupted horizontal series of replacement teeth. The 

 replacement teeth are formed less completely than the main series 

 and decrease in relative development from the ventralmost to the 

 dorsalmost series. The functional teeth are laterally compressed and 

 broadly based (in lateral aspect) with slender, blunt, recurved tips. 



The heavy-bodied maxillaries lie closely adjacent and dorsal to 

 the premaxillaries, and anteriorly, mesial to the palatines and lachry- 

 mals. The maxillaries are complex bones each consisting of a broad, 

 posteriorly extending shank (somewhat concave ventrally, with a 

 large foramen posteriorly, which is not visible in the illustration) 



