516 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
VETERNIO Snyder, new genus. 
Veternio Snyder, new genus of Leptocephalidse; type, Vetemio verrens , new species. 
Body without scales; lateral line present; tail much longer than head and trunk; head long, 
snout pointed; lower jaw much shorter than upper. No teeth; vomer, maxillaries, and mandibles 
with broad, smooth, hard areas; tongue free; nostrils not tubular; the anterior ones near tip of snout, 
with narrow rims; posterior ones oblong, near the eyes; gill-openings separate, with broad, lunate 
slits; fins well developed, dorsal inserted above base of pectorals. Color uniform. 
The absence of teeth serves to distinguish Veternio from closely related genera. 
12. Veternio verrens Snyder, new species. Plate 2, fig. 3. 
Head, from tip of snout to upper edge of gill-opening, 0.64 of trunk; depth 0.42 of head; eye 0.13; 
snout 0.26; length of pectoral 0.36. Color plain; fins edged with black. 
Head very long and pointed, upper profile sloping gently from tip of snout to occiput; interorbital 
space fiat, its width 0.16 of head; snout slender, projecting beyond lower jaw a distance equal to 0.5 of 
diameter of eye; cleft of mouth somewhat oblique, extending beyond eye a distance equal to 0.3 of 
pupil; no teeth, the vomer, maxillaries, and mandibles with broad, flat, smooth surfaces; tongue free, 
tip rounded; lips thin, simple; anterior nostrils at end of snout, with low rims and posterior flaps; 
posterior nostrils close to upper anterior part of eye, without rims, rounded oval in shape; a pair of 
large mucus tubes at tip of snout, a tube immediately behind anterior nostril and one on each side 
of snout just above the latter; gill-openings lunate, their width about 0.15 of length of head; lateral 
line somewhat above middle of body anteriorly, gradually extending downward and reaching mid- 
dle of body a short distance beyond the vent. Pectoral inserted just below middle of body, obtusely 
pointed, upper rays longest, lower border convex; dorsal inserted above middle of base of pectoral; 
height of dorsal fin at a point above tip of pectoral equal to vertical diameter of eye; at a point twice 
the length of head behind vent the length of rays equals length of snout; 65 rays between its insertion 
and a vertical through anal opening; anal inserted immediately behind vent, its height equal to 0.5 the 
length of snout. 
Color in spirits brown, darker above than below; pectorals brownish, growing black toward tips; 
dorsal brownish, shading into black along edge; anal bordered with black, the band about half as 
wide as pupil and sharply defined. 
A single mutilated specimen from the Honolulu market measures 270 mm. from snout to vent. 
The tail was severed 320 mm. behind the vent. 
Type, No. 50862, U. S. Nat. Mus., Honolulu. 
( verrens , trailing, in reference to the long tail.) 
OPHICHTHYIDiE. 
13. Leiuranus semicinctus (Lay & Bennett). 
Two specimens from Honolulu. One measures 275 mm., its tail equal in length to head and body; 
23 black bands behind interorbital band. The other measures 177 nun., its tail the length of snout 
longer than head and body; 24 dark bands behind the interorbital band. An example from Ishigaki, 
Japan, measures 435 mm., length of tail equal to distance between vent and gill-opening; 22 bands 
behind interorbital; teeth uniserial. 
14. Microdonophis fowleri Jordan & Evermann. Honolulu. 
15. Sphagebranchus fiavicaudus Snyder, new species. Plate 2, fig. 4. 
Head, measured to upper edge of gill-opening, 0.055 of the length, 0.105 of trunk including head, 
0.12 of /ail; depth 0.26 of head; snout 0.18. Snout long, slender, and sharp, projecting beyond 
lower jaw, tip of latter reaching beyond eye a distance equal to diameter of pupil; eye midway 
between tip of snout and angle of mouth, its diameter contained 3 times in length of snout; anterior 
nostril with a short tube on ventral side of snout a little nearer its tip than to border of eye; posterior 
nostril without tube, placed below anterior margin of eye; upper lip with a fold extending from nostril 
to angle of mouth; teeth of jaws in a single series; a group of 4 canines at end of upper jaw, all being 
beyond end of lower jaw when it is closed; a few sharp teeth on anterior part of vomer; gill-openings 
inferior, converging, the distance between them about equal to diameter of eye; width of gill-opening 
0.13 of head. No fins; tail pointed. 
