40 MEMOIRS OF THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM 
Dorsal contour steep from snout to occiput, then rising more gently to base ot 
dorsal ; interorbital region high and sharp anteriorly, its edge an eye’s diameter from 
orbit. Mouth very large, the maxillary extending to a vertical through center of 
pupil, 275 in head, the width of its posterior edge contained 13 times in suborbital 
area; lower jaw projecting prominently beyond the upper; no teeth; gill-rakers 
numerous, 24+ 54, and extremely long, the anterior ones projecting upward and 
forward along sides of mouth and base of tongue, small lateral setee giving them a 
distinctly feather-like appearance ; length of longest ones contained 3% times in head. 
Ddges of opercles and preopercles membranous. 
Seales very small, those on lower half of body minute and partly embedded ; 
head, except a small area on upper part of opercle and preopercle, naked ; throat and 
breast naked, the unscaled area extending upward and including base and axil of 
pectoral ; a narrow naked area extending from occiput to base of spinous dorsal ; a 
low sheath of scales along bases of soft dorsal and anal. Lateral line with a gentle 
upward curve on anterior half; a conspicuous dorsal branch extending upward to 
occiput and then backward to near origin of spinous dorsal; posterior part of lateral 
line with about 20 plates which are heaviest on caudal peduncle where a slight keel 
and a blunt spine are developed. Base of caudal with an indistinct keel on each 
side of the median row of plates. 
Height of longest dorsal spine contained 3% times in head, not reaching origin 
of soft dorsal when depressed, the fin followed by 2 very low free spines ; first 5 or 
6 rays of soft dorsal elongate, giving the anterior part of fin a somewhat falcate 
appearance; the following rays about equal in height to diameter of eye. Anal 
similar in shape to soft dorsal. Caudal very deeply cleft, the lobes equal, their 
length contained 34 times in length. Pectoral faleate, 22 in the length. Ventrals 
22 in head. 
Color in spirits bright silvery, somewhat dusky above; axil of pectoral black ; 
median dorsal area from snout backwards dusky; dorsals narrowly edged with 
dusky ; caudal with a dusky margin. 
The above description is taken from the type, a specimen 18 inches long from 
Takao, Formosa, in the Carnegie Museum. 
A cotype measuring 9 inches, from the same locality, has the interorbital area 
slightly lower, the soft dorsal decidedly filamentous, the tip extending backward 
to middle of caudal fin, and the pectoral more curved and falcate. Other specimens 
from Cavite, P. L, recorded as Caranx plumbeus (Jordan and Seale, Bull. Bureau 
Fisheries, XX VI, p. 14) do not appear to, differ from the Formosan examples. 
The species is named for Mr. Robert Earl Richardson, who first recognized the 
distinctness of the genus. 
