JAPANESE FISHES. 
613 
Mouth wide, oblique, the maxillary reaching a vertical which intersects the orbit nearer to hinder 
margin of eye than to pupil, its length 1.8 in head. Teeth minute, all similar, in narrow bands in both 
jaws; barbel slender, similarly developed in the type and the two cotypes, its length half diameter of 
orbit. Preopercle of moderate width, the latter equaling one-third of orbital diameter; preopercular 
margin crinate, the margin above angle oblique and gently incurved. Gill membranes forming a free 
fold across the isthmus, to which they are not joined; outer gill-slits wide, the outer arch free from its 
angle forward for a distance equaling about one-third the length of head. No pseudobranchise can be 
detected, nor is there any trace of the deep suprabranchial pit so conspicuous in Bathygadus. Gill- 
rakers similar throughout the genus, those on inner arches short, compressed, movable, strongly 
spinous on inner margins, 17 or 18 on second arch. The length of the fins can not be given, as they 
are injured in all our specimens. The origin of the second dorsal fin can not be made out with cer- 
tainty, but appears to be distant from the first dorsal 1.5 to 2 times the base of latter. The vertical 
from origin of anal intersects the back at a distance behind first dorsal equal to half its base length. 
Color light brownish, darker along anterior portion of back, silvery on lower part of sides. A 
silvery streak along upper half of suborbital, a black streak occupying lower half and strongly con- 
trasting. Corner of mouth whitish, premaxillaries black, mandible largely black but with a whitish 
Hymenocephalus striatlssimus Jordan & Gilbert, new species. 
line following the lip; snout translucent; inside of mouth shining with metallic luster; posterior por- 
tion of buccal cavity black; gill cavity largely whitish, gill membranes and a blotch on opercle black. 
As in other species, the breast and belly are purplish, sides of isthmus and an area extending thence 
to above and behind the ventral fins silvery, finely cross lined with black or purple, this pattern 
scarcely to be made out without the aid of a lens. In the present species this striated area extends 
along sides of abdomen two-thirds of distance to vent. 
This species is distinguished from all others by the extension of the striated area across the 
isthmus and anterior part of the breast, and by an extension downward in front of each of the ventral 
fins, forming a pair of conspicuous silvery spots, on which the fine lines are more irregularly dis- 
posed. In this species alone, the base of each ventral is wholly surrounded by the striated area. The 
gular membrane is crossed by two series of lines, one coarser and parallel, the other extremely fine 
and branching. The gill membranes are whitish on their outer face, the rays black. Base of ventrals 
black and very conspicuous. A lens-like body on middle, of breast, and one in advance of the anus, 
each surrounded by a black ring, which in the posterior one includes the anal opening. 
Three specimens secured, all from Suruga Bay, dredged by the Albatross at station 3738 in 167 
fathoms, and station 3721 in 207 to 250 fathoms. A cotype is No. 8549, L. S., Jr. U. 
( StriatissimuSf most striated) . 
