Japanese Gempylidae — MatsubARA AND IWAI 
199 
origin of dorsal fin 4.01. Snout 2.88 in head; 
eye 4.29; fleshy interorbital space 3.65; bony 
interorbital 4.96; upper jaw 2.35; depth of the 
caudal peduncle 4.80; pectoral 1.87; ventral 
1.25; longest (5th) dorsal spine 2.51; longest 
(2nd) soft dorsal ray 2.75; longest (1st) anal 
ray 2.83; caudal 1.06. 
Body rather stout, fusiform, and strongly 
compressed; depth about equal to length of 
head behind anterior nostril; width about 
equal to one third the length of head. Upper 
profile of head slightly elevated before an- 
terior nostril, then nearly straight to insertion 
of dorsal fin. Snout not projecting beyond 
premaxillaries. Muzzle bluntly conical; lower 
jaw projecting beyond tip of snout a distance 
about one third as long as pupil. Mouth 
large; maxillary not hidden under infraorbital 
membrane, extending a little behind anterior 
border of pupil, the width about twice the 
least infraorbital width. Two fangs on each 
side of upper jaw near tip of snout, anterior 
one of right side depressible, the others im- 
movable; lateral teeth on jaws conical and 
widely separated; those of lower jaw larger 
than those of upper; a pair of canine-like 
teeth near symphysis of lower jaw, exposed 
outside closed mouth; vomer evidently 
edentulous; a single longitudinal series of 
small conical teeth on palatines. Eye round, 
not entering upper profile of head, about two 
thirds as long as snout; infraorbital less than 
half as wide as pupil. Interorbital about 1.2 
times as broad as eye; with 4 low longitudinal 
ridges; space between inner pair of ridges very 
slightly concave; outer part of outer ridges 
more or less elevated. Angle of preopercle 
armed with 2 small but rather pungent spines ; 
opercle strengthened by 2 obscure ridges, not 
ending in spines. 
Lateral line inserted above upper end of 
gill opening, running backward to point of 
bifurcation beneath the membrane between 
fifth and sixth dorsal spines; upper branch 
running directly backward close to and paral- 
leling dorsal contour of body and ending at 
base of middle caudal ray; lower branch 
^^nnnnnnnnriririnri 
mm 
Fig. 4. Outer face of first gill arch in Epinnula 
magistralis Poey. A, region near angle on right side; 
B, middle part of lower branch on right side. Drawn 
by authors. 
running directly downward to behind middle 
part of base of pectoral fin, then passing 
downward and slightly backward to above 
origin of ventral, and finally extending along 
lower contour of body to base of caudal fin. 
Head and body — except lips, lower jaw, an- 
terior half of maxillary, and branchiostegal 
membrane — wholly covered with small im- 
bricated scales. 
Base of spinous part of dorsal fin about 2.5 
times as long as that of soft part; soft dorsal 
about as long as anal fin and preceded by a 
weak spine; anal opposite soft dorsal, pre- 
ceded by 3 spines, the first inserted under 
base of first soft dorsal ray; margins of soft 
dorsal and anal shallowly but widely con- 
cave. Pectoral rather short, about two thirds 
as long as ventral, extending to below eighth 
dorsal spine. Ventral inserted below middle 
of pectoral, very long, about as long as head 
