538 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
strongly curved than the ventral outline. The head has become broader. It is 
scarcely as deep as in smaller fish, and its length is contained 2.5 times in the length 
without the caudal fin. The snout remains blunt and shorter than the eye, being 
contained 4.2 times in the head, whereas the eye is contained 3.1 times. The mouth 
has become less strongly oblique, the gape being wholly below the eye, and the maxil- 
lary scarcely reaches beyond the anterior margin of the eye. Small pointed teeth 
now are evident in the jaws. Preopercular spines remain quite prominent. The 
dermal crest, or ridge, at the occiput has become proportionately shorter, and ends 
in a blunt spinelike point. The body now is covered with blunt spinelike plates, 
scarcely resembling scales (not shown in fig. 26), and the upper surface of the head 
(where the plates are missing) bears short hairlike spines. The fins are all developed 
and have the usual number of spines and soft rays present in adults. However, the 
spines still are somewhat retarded in development and proportionately shorter than 
in the adult. The margins of the vertical fins are all rounded. The ventral fins are 
quite large, and exceed the length of the pectorals. 
The general color of the preserved specimen is dark brown. Dark chromato- 
phores present in younger fish and in large specimens at hand are not visible in the 
9.0 mm specimen. A few dusky markings are present at the shoulder. The soft 
dorsal, caudal and anal are colorless, but the ventrals are dark brown (fig. 26). 
Specimen 11 mm long . — The body is proportionately a little deeper than in the 
9.0-mm fish, the depth now being contained 1.5 times in the length without the caudal 
fin. The general shape of the head, and the proportions of the eye and snout have 
changed little. The preopercular spines have become rather shorter and blunter, 
and the occipital ridge of smaller fish now is represented by a small blunt projection. 
The lateral line is well developed. The scales no longer look like plates, and the spiny 
projections on them are smaller. The hairlike spines on the head, noted in the 
9.0 mm specimen, have become minute. The dorsal spines have increased in length, 
but remain proportionately shorter than in larger fish. The ventral fins have con- 
tinued to increase in length, and now reach the vent. 
The general color is brownish, and the head and body nearly everywhere are 
dotted with black chromatopkores. An indefinite pale crossbar on the back of the 
head extends down on the preopercle. The ventral fins are black, and spinous parts 
