164 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
posterior margins about midway between tip of snout and first gill-opening; nictitating membrane 
well developed; mouth large, very convex, the anterior margin of mandible below front rim of orbit; 
teeth in upper jaw narrow, with broad bases, compressed, serrate, not notched, and with 4 or 5 basal 
cusps behind; teeth in mandible rather long, pointed, and not serrate, the edges smooth; nostrils 
without flap, inferior, and nearer eye than tip of snout; interorbital space broad and convex, the 
upper profile of the head rising gradually in a nearly straight line to back of head; gill-openings of 
moderate length, the posterior over the base of the pectoral; peritoneum white or pale; body very 
finely roughened when stroked forward; height of first dorsal less than depth of body, its origin a 
little nearer tip of snout than origin of second dorsal; origin of second dorsal nearer origin of first 
dorsal than tip of caudal, the fin small and about over the anal so that the origins of the two fins are 
opposite; caudal long, with a notch at its tip, deep, the lower lobe 2.25 in the length of the fin; 
pectoral with margin of fin slightly concave; ventrals small, their origins a little nearer base of lower 
caudal lobe than origin of pectoral; back convexly ridged, broader between the dorsals; base of caudal 
with a pit above and below. 
Color in alcohol, pale brown, the lower parts pale or whitish with a brown streak the color of the 
back along side from gill-opening to origin of ventral; tips of dorsals, edge of caudal, and tip of pec- 
toral blackish. 
This description is based upon the type, No. 50612, IT. S. N. M. (field No. 03747), a specimen 27.5 
inches long, obtained by us at Honolulu. The collection contains 4 other examples, all from Hono- 
lulu, which we take as cotypes. They are: No. 12715, L. S. Jr. Univ. Mus. (field No. 03745); No. 
12715, L. S. Jr. Univ. Mus. (field No. 03746); No. — , M. C. Z. (field No. 03748); and No. 1685, Bishop 
Mus. (field No. 03749). 
We have examined 2 other specimens, each about 29 inches long, obtained by Dr. Jenkins in 1889, 
and one foetus obtained by us at Honolulu. 
Family OPHICHTHYIDTE. The Snake Eels. 
2 . Microdonophis fowleri Jordan & Evermann, new species. 
Head about 5 in trunk measured from tip of snout to vent; tail shorter than head and trunk by 
the length of the former; eye nearly 1.6 in snout or 1.5 in interorbital space; snout 6 in head; inter- 
orbital space about 6.75; mouth 2.75; pectoral a little over 4.25 in head. 
Body elongate, cylindrical, the tail tapering gradually to a conical horny point; head cylindrical 
and pointed; snout moderately long and pointed, slightly flattened above, projecting over and beyond 
the mandible; eye elongate, small, anterior and superior, about midway in length of mouth; mouth 
lather large; lips somewhat fringed; teeth large and canine-like in front of jaws, and on vomer in a 
single row; tongue small, adnate to floor of mouth; anterior nostrils in short tubes near tip of snout, 
the posterior with broad flaps on the lips and opening downward; interorbital space concave, each 
supraocular ridge slightly elevated; peritoneum silvery; skin perfectly smooth; head with mucous 
pores, a series of which encircle head above and about midway in its length; lateral line well developed, 
pores about 140; origin of dorsal slightly in advance of gill-opening or base of pectoral; pectoral small, 
the rays just above the middle the longest, fin rounded; dorsal fin long and low, its height about equal 
to length of snout; anal similar to dorsal, its height a trifle less. 
General color, when fresh, white, rendered somewhat shaded on upper portions by very minute 
points (seen only with a good lens) of gray; back and upper surface with numerous round brown spots 
and about 17 indistinct transverse dark brown crossbands which do not extend over the dorsal; the 
interspaces between the spots on the head yellow, the pectoral bright lemon yellow; end of tail for 
about 1 inch from point bright yellow; spots on margin of dorsal brown, with yellow borders; a band 
of yellow runs from under one eye backward, upward, across the top of head, and down under the 
other eye; the transverse series of pores which encircles the head above and about midway in its length, 
with black margins, and also a similar series over head along the margin of mouth, and then up, back 
of eye, over head; pores of lateral line without black margins. 
This species is based upon a single specimen, the type, No. 50613, U. S. N. M. (field No. 03431), 
an example 23 inches long obtained by us in the market at Honolulu, July 21. 
