646 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
ANALYSIS OF THE SPECIES OF NEOCONGER. 
a. [Pectoral small. Dark reddish brown above, paler below ; head small, slender, 
pointed; upper jaw the longer; dorsal fin beginning just in front of the vent, 
forming a membranous ridge until near the tail, where it expands and becomes 
fin-like. ] ( Girard ) Mtjcronatus, 92. 
aa. Pectoral well developed, 3£ to 4 in head. Snout anteriorly short, slightly pro- 
jecting beyond mouth; mouth small, reaching slightly behind eye; teeth small, 
conical, uniserial in jaws, biserial anteriorly on the vomer, uniserial posteriorly; 
gill-slits vertical, longer than eye, a little longer than isthmus ; dorsal beginning 
half the length of the head in advance of the vent ; body not very slender, its 
depth 2£ in head ; head 3£ in trunk ; cleft of mouth 3-| in head ; tail usually a 
little longer than the rest of body ; tip of tongue slightly free. Color uniform, 
yellowish-olive on body and fins, finely dotted with black Vermiformis, 93. 
92. NEOCONGER MTJCRONATUS. 
Neoconger mucronatus Girard, U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv., 77, 1859 (St. Joseph Isl., Texas); 
Gunther, viii, 49, 1870 (copied) ; Goode & Bean, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 
155, 1879; Jordan & Gilbert, Syn. Fish. N. A., 360, 1883 (copied). 
Habitat: Gulf of Mexico. 
Etymology : Latin, mucronatus. 
This species is known only from the indifferent description given by 
Dr. Girard. A second specimen from West Florida is said to be in the 
National Museum, but we have not seen it, and no description has been 
published. The descriptions are not sufficient to distinguish the 
species from Neoconger vermiformis. 
93. NEO CONGER VERMIFORMIS. 
Neoconger vermiformis Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 57, 1890 (station 3035, Lower 
California). 
Habitat : Pacific coast of Mexico. 
Etymology: Latin, vermis , worm; forma , shape. 
This species is known from several specimens, the largest 6 inches 
long, taken by Dr. Gilbert at station 3035, off the coast of Lower Cali- 
fornia, at a depth of 30 fathoms. An additional specimen, from station 
2799 off Panama, has been since received ; this is considerably larger 
than the types and has the pectorals shorter (somewhat worn at the 
end), scarcely J length of head. The specimen agrees in other respects, 
with N. vermiformis , and is probably of the same species. 
Genus 28.— HOPLUNNIS. 
Hoplunnis Kaup, Aale Hamburg. Museum, 19, 1859, ( schmidlii .) 
Type : Hoplunnis schmidtii , Kaup. 
Etymology : “Onlov, armature ; 5ws, vomer; correctly written Hoplyn- 
nis. 
This genus contains a single species. 
