132 
Fishery Bulletin 96( 1 ), 1998 
what rounded pigment spot; inner lining of opercle 
and isthmus more heavily pigmented on ocular sur- 
face than blind side; blind side without pepper-dot 
pigmentation; and dorsal, anal, and caudal fins with 
alternating series of pigmented blotches and unpig- 
mented areas. 
Description A relatively large species attaining 
maximum lengths of ca. 189 mm SL. ID pattern usu- 
ally 1-4-3 (55/64 specimens), infrequently 1-3-4 (2), 
1-5-3 (3), 1-4-2 (2) or 1-3-3 (2) (Table 2). Caudal-fin 
rays 12 (59/63 specimens), less frequently 11 (Table 
3). Dorsal-fin rays 97-106 (Table 4). Anal-fin rays 
81-89, usually 83-87 (Table 5). Total vertebrae 52- 
55, usually 53-54 (55/63) (Table 6). Hypurals 4 (63/ 
63). Longitudinal scale rows 84-97, usually 86-93 
(Table 7). Scale rows on head posterior to lower orbit 
19-23 (Table 8). Transverse scales 36-42 (Table 9). 
Proportions of morphometric features presented in 
Table 37. Body relatively elongate, with greatest body 
depth from vertical through anal-fin rays 10-15 pos- 
teriorly to midpoint of body; body depth tapering 
gradually posterior to body midpoint. Preanal length 
shorter than body depth. Head wide, somewhat nar- 
rower than body depth. Head length shorter than 
head width (HW:HL=1. 1-1.5, 3c =1.2). Lower head 
lobe width less than postorbital length; considerably 
narrower than upper head lobe. Lower opercular lobe 
of ocular side wider than upper opercular lobe. Snout 
(Fig. 58, A-B) moderately long, slightly rounded or 
truncate, covered with small ctenoid scales. Anterior 
nostril not reaching anterior margin of lower eye 
when depressed posteriorly. Dermal papillae well 
developed, but not particularly dense, on snout and 
chin regions of blind side of head, occasionally ex- 
tending onto ocular-side snout. Jaws long; posterior 
margin of maxilla usually reaching to vertical 
through posterior margin of pupil of lower eye, occa- 
sionally to or slightly beyond vertical through poste- 
rior margin of lower eye. Ocular-side lower jaw with 
distinct, fleshy ridge near posterior margin (Fig. 3D). 
Teeth well developed on blind-side jaws. Margin of 
ocular-side dentary usually with single, mostly in- 
complete row of slender teeth; ocular-side premaxil- 
lary margin either lacking teeth, or with very short 
row of teeth along no more than one-third of pre- 
maxilla anterior to vertical through base of anterior 
nostril. Chin depth slightly larger than snout length. 
Lower eye relatively small; eyes slightly subequal in 
position with upper usually slightly in advance of 
lower eye. Anterior and medial surfaces of eyes not 
covered with scales; usually only 1-3 small, ctenoid 
scales in narrow interorbital region. Interorbital 
space sometimes equalling one-half diameter of lower 
eye. Pupillary operculum absent. Dorsal-fin origin 
Table 37 
Morphometries for holotype (USNM 159606) and 13 
paratypes of Symphurus oculellus. (Abbreviations defined 
in methods section; SL is expressed in mm; characters 2 to 
14 are expressed in thousandths of SL; 15 to 21 in thou- 
sandths of HL; n = no. of specimens measured.) 
Character 
Holotype 
n 
Range 
Mean 
SD 
1. SL 
144.1 
14 
75.8-164 
142.5 
21.09 
2. BD 
271 
14 
231-297 
274.5 
17.19 
3. PDL 
32 
13 
32-47 
38.6 
4.13 
4. PAL 
199 
14 
189-243 
205.6 
13.32 
5. DBL 
968 
13 
953-968 
961.4 
4.13 
6. ABL 
795 
14 
765-837 
793.7 
18.74 
7. PL 
53 
12 
40-64 
54.3 
6.08 
8. PA 
37 
12 
20-60 
41.2 
12.62 
9. CFL 
90 
14 
80-99 
88.9 
5.53 
10. HL 
180 
14 
168-218 
182.3 
11.58 
11. HW 
209 
14 
198-281 
216.8 
21.37 
12. POL 
126 
14 
112-153 
124.8 
9.38 
13. UHL 
140 
14 
126-151 
139.4 
6.81 
14. LHL 
98 
14 
79-111 
92.9 
8.13 
15. POL 
700 
14 
651-722 
683.8 
20.64 
16. SNL 
204 
14 
190-227 
209.0 
11.67 
17. UJL 
254 
14 
221-258 
238.3 
11.74 
18. ED 
69 
14 
68-104 
84.3 
10.52 
19. CD 
277 
14 
214-291 
248.4 
23.62 
20. OPLL 
308 
14 
264-341 
292.3 
23.77 
21. OPUL 
200 
14 
174-246 
210.6 
20.39 
usually at, or occasionally slightly anterior to, verti- 
cal through anterior margin of upper eye; predorsal 
length short. Scales absent from distal two-thirds of 
blind sides of dorsal- and anal-fin rays, occasionally 
with one or two scales occurring sporadically on blind 
sides of some dorsal- and anal-fin ray bases. Pelvic 
fin short; longest pelvic-fin ray extending posteriorly 
to base of first, or occasionally second, anal-fin ray. 
Posteriormost pelvic-fin ray connected to body by 
delicate membrane terminating immediately ante- 
rior to anus, or occasionally extending posteriorly to 
anal-fin origin (membrane torn in most specimens). 
Caudal fin short. Scales large, ctenoid on both sides 
of body. 
Pigmentation (Fig. 58, A and B) Body coloration 
similar for both sexes. Ocular surface dark to light 
brown with 10-14 (usually 10-12), well-developed, 
sharply contrasting, somewhat narrow, dark brown 
crossbands on head and trunk. Anteriormost 
crossband on head immediately posterior to eyes; 
second crossband situated short distance (usually 
only 3-4 scales) posteriorly. Throughout most of their 
vertical extent, two anteriormost bands usually sepa- 
rate; several specimens with first two crossbands coa- 
lesced on ventral portion of opercle forming wide, 
