336 
THE CORAL TRIANGLE: HEARST BIODIVERSITY EXPEDITION 
Figure 3. Schematic illustratiton of head of holotype of Pylorobranchus hearsto- 
rum sp. nov., CAS 235464, female, 1218 mm TL. Illustration prepared by Corlis Schnei¬ 
der. 
region, becomes elevated 
posteriorly. Dorsal-fin 
origin in posterior trunk 
region, arising 
2 HE behind snout tip. 
Anal-fin membrane elon¬ 
gate, twice in body depth 
when extended, median 
fins confluent with cau¬ 
dal; caudal fm short. Pec¬ 
toral fins wedge-shaped, 
longer than snout, rays of dorsal quarter the longest. 
Head pores minute but apparent (Fig. 3); SO 1 x 3,10 5 x 2, 
POM 7 X 3 (2 right, the dorsalmost pore absent), ST 3. A single 
temporal and interorbital pore. Two infraorbital pores between 
anterior and posterior nostrils. Approximately 210 lateral-line 
pores present, 17 above branchial basket, 59 before anus, last 
pore about 0.37 HE before tail tip. 
Teeth (Fig. 4) needle-shaped, recurved, all teeth uniserial 
and widely spaced, becoming slightly smaller posteriorly on 
jaws and vomer. An anterior intermaxillary horseshoe-shaped 
band of 4 teeth, followed by 2 pairs of slightly larger teeth, fol¬ 
lowed by a uniserial linear row of 6 vomerine teeth. Maxillary 
teeth 11 in a linear row, decreasing in size and irregularly sepa¬ 
rated by short gaps. Mandibular teeth lack a symphyseal pair, 10 
(right) to 15 (left), decreasing in size and irregularly separated by 
short gaps. 
Gill arches moderately developed: basibranchials 1-4 carti¬ 
laginous; hypobranchials 1-2 ossified, 3 cartilaginous; cerato- 
branchials 1-4 ossified, 5 absent; epibranchials ossified; 
infrapharyngobranchials 1-2 ossified; third upper pharyngeal 
tooth plate with 3 conical teeth, fourth upper pharyngeal tooth 
plate with 3 longitudinal rows of 8-9 conical teeth, the plates 
closely sutured but not fused; lower pharyngeal tooth plate with 
10-12 conical teeth in 3 irregular longitudinal rows. Teeth are 
comparable in size and appearance to those of jaws. 
Body coloration in ethyl alcohol uniform dark brown. (Col¬ 
oration of fresh specimen shown in Figures 1-2). Approximate¬ 
ly 20 diffuse black saddles overlay tmnk and anterior tail area, 
their interspaces wider than the saddles. Median fins gray anteri¬ 
orly, the anal fm becoming black in posterior half of its length, the dorsal black in posterior quar¬ 
ter of its length. Pectoral fins uniformly brownish gray. Interior surface of posterior nostril white. 
Palate gray-black, teeth reside in white bands. Gill openings and peritoneum black. 
Etymology.— I take pleasure in naming this remarkable new species in honor of William 
and Margaret Hearst, friends and philanthropists. 
Remarks. — The new species might be mistakenly identified as a congrid by someone unfa¬ 
miliar with the subtle characteristics of myrophine ophichthids. Its enormous size, elongation, tail 
Figure 4. Schematic illustration of 
dentition of holotype of Pyloro- 
branchus hearstorum sp. nov., CAS 
235464,female,1218 mm TL. Illustra¬ 
tion prepared by Corlis Schneider. 
