FOWLER: NEW KXf'.LAND FISHES. 
133 
Head 2j; depth (contracted) about 2|; I), ii, G; A. ii, 5; head 
width If in its h'ngth; snout 21; eye 7; interorhital 2J. 
Botly compressed, elongate, belly loose and flabby, capable of 
great inflation. Caudal peduncle compressed. Head large, robust, 
compressed, front profile well inclined. Snout convex over surface, 
slightly broader than long. Eye small, rounded, high, near first ^ 
in head length. Mouth moderate, jaws about even. Teeth large, 
with entire cutting edges. Nostrils close together, on each side 
of short fleshy tube, on front of snout about opposite upper eye 
edge. Interorhital broadly convex. Gill-opening nearly vertical, 
about ec}uals 1^ eye-<;liameters. Skin smooth, except two large 
Fig. 7. — Spheroides geometricua (Schneider). 
spinescent areas. One includes interorbital, crown, nape, and greater 
anterior predorsal region. Other area includes under surface of head, 
costal region, and entire inflatable area of belly. Spines slender, 
simple, more or less embedded on upper surface, more free below. 
Dorsal inserted about last third betAveen hind eye edge and caudal 
base. Anal like dorsal, inserted below dorsal base behind dorsal 
origin. Caudal rounded. Pectoral broad, nearly as long as dorsal. 
Color in alcohol brownish, slighth- darker above and paler to whitish 
below. Back marked with series of four ellipsoid darker lines, one 
within the other, and center falling on edge of back midway between 
pectoral and dorsal origin. Anteriorly on head four more broad arcs, 
and two narrower ones also cross over upper surface of snout. On 
