A REVIEW OF THE HEMIBRANCHIATE FISHES OF JAPAN. By David Stakr Jordan and Edwin Chapin Starks,Of the Li'Iwid Hkmford Junior Uniirrsltii In the present paper is given a review of the Hemil)ranchiate fishesknown to inhabit the waters of Japan. It is based on material in theLeland Stanford Junior University and in the U. S. National Museum,most of it collected by Jordan and Sn3'der in the sunnner of 1900.In a previous paper in these Proceedings" ]\lr. Starks has discussedthe osteolog}^ of the suborder Hemibranchii and of its componentfamilies. Order ACANTHOPTERGII.Suborder HEMIBRANCHII.Opisthotics absent; parietals usuall}^ absent; exoccipitals nevermeeting over surface of basioccipitals; myodome usually al?sent orrudimentary, sometimes well developed; posttemporal never typicallyforked, sometimes united to cranium suturely; a portion of the hypo-corcacoid sometimes enamelled, appearing- externall}" as a sepjirate ])oneon either side (interclavicle); supraclavicle usually al)sent, small whenpresent; postclavicle when present composed of a single bone; superiorpharyngeals and usually elements of branchial arches reduced in num-ber; inferior pharyngeals present, not united; four anterior vertebrasmore or less elongate, sometimes united; transverse process presenton all abdominal vertebrje; snout more or less produced and tube-like with a small mouth at its end; ventrals abdominal, sometimesanteriorly placed. These fishes are allied to the Percemces^ fromancestors of which it is probably descended. Their relations to theLopho])ranchii are close, the characters of the Lophobranchii beinglargeh' extremes of the same modifications.(V//r/;('/?.s (i IRAKI), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. I'liila., isr)4, \>. 147: Presidio;lialf mailed.Gasterosiens inopinatH.-< (\\R.\Hi), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. I'liila., 1854, ]>. 147; Presi-dio; half mailed.Gasterosteus 'pngetti (tirakd, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., ISoi;, p. i;i,5; FortBteilacooni, Washington; half mailed.The following" description is tuken from u specimen So nnn. longfrom Ugo, northwest ?Tapan:Head 3i; depth 4i; eye 3|. Dorsal 11-1, 13; anal 1, 1(?. Body slender,compressed; head small and pointed; mouth obli(iu(\ maxillary notreaching eye', caudal peduncle depressed, keeled. Processes fromshoulder girdle slightly divergent, leaving a narrow, naked area onbreast; naked area in front of pectorals equal to length of snout.Dorsal spines long and slender, the length equaling distance fromsnout to pupil ; third dorsal and anal spines very small, curved; ven-tral spines long, slender, as long as snout and eye, or even longer insome specimens; serrate at ])ase and Avith basal cusp; ventral plate aslong as spine in many specimens, narrow, the greatest width 3i inlength. Lateral armature complete, the plates gradually reduced insize posteriorly, forming a distinct caudal keel. Dark grayish or blu-ish black above, silvery below, witii a few dark punctulations, thickeston caudal peduncle and near tip of ventral spines. Alaska, Kam-chatka, and Japan. Very abundant northward; the mailed form rarelyor never entering fresh water.We have also marine specimens from Kushiro and northern Japan,which we have compared with specimens from Alaska and PugetSound, and have found them to l)e similar.Specimens from I])i and Mino rivers near Ogaki in Mino seem to beinseparalde from the naked specimens from Colton, California (called" Gasterosteus wilUamsoni''-). They ditfer greatly from the marineform in being deeper, in having the ventral plate broad and short, inbeing only partially armed, in being conspicuously mottled, and inexhibiting all of the differences which fresh-water specimens at theextreme of variation from California and Alaska exhibit. Since it hasnot been possible to satisfactorily separate the Western Americanfresh-water species from those found in the sea, we can not considerthese as distinct even though we have no intergrading forms at hand.Formula? of soft rays of dorsal and anal: Locality. NO. 130S. HEMIBRANCHIATE FISHES?JORDAN AND ST. 1 IlKS. fi 12. PYGOSTEUS Brevoort. Pi/i/osteKs (BrevDDi-t ) (iir.L, Cat. Fislies Vjns~t Coa,?t Nortli America, ISfil, p. 39;name only.Pyi/oxtcH.t (\\iA., Canadian Naturalist, II, 18()5, j'- ^ {occidentalis) . Gafiterostea SxvxAGE, Revision des Epinoches, 1874, ]>. 29 { jyungltins) . This genu.s is characterizod l)y the presence of 9 to 11 divergentspines and by the weakness of its innominate bones. The gill mem-branes form a l)road fold across the isthmus. Vertebrai 14 + 18 = 32.(jtvyr}^ pubic region; ocrreov^ bone.) ((. Dorsal with 8 spines Me'mddchiieri, 2.aa. Dorsal with 11 or 12 spines undecimalis, 3. 2. PYGOSTEUS STEINDACHNERI Jordan and Snyder.Gaslewsteus japonicus Steindachner, Ichthy. Beitr., IX, i). 27, pi. lu, tig. 2;Gulf of Strielok, near Vladivostok. (Not of Houttuyn. ) Pi/gosteu~s steindachneri Jordan and Snyder, Proceedings TJ. S. Nat. Mus., 1901,p. 747, after Steindachner.Gdntnostevs ^/?j(//i7(?s Ishikawa, Prel. Cat., 1897, yi. 59; Lake Inokashiro, nearTokyo.Gio^terostens i^Y*. xshikawa, Prel. Cat., 1897, p. 59; Yamashiro.The following description is taken from 4 specimens from Yama-shiro:Head 3f in length; depth 4i. Dorsal VllI-11; anal 1-8, or 9.Diameter of eye equal to snout or slightly greater, contained 3^ timesin head; width of interorbital two-thirds diameter of eye; maxillarybarely reaching to under anterior adge of the eye in the males,slightly shorter in the females.Length of ventral spines equal to distance from tip of snout tomiddle of eye; length of middle dorsal spines two-thirds to three-fourths eye, last spine a little longer, equal to anal spine; length ofpectoral equals snout and e^^e; length of anal base equal to dorsal baseand eijual to length of head without snout.Anterior part of body with vertical bony plates which decrease inlength posteriorly and become small round plates on posterior half ofbody; on the caudal peduncle they form a sharp keel; they numberfrom 32 to 35.Color in spirits very light yellowish brown with only a trace of smalldusky punctulations. The membrane of the spinous dorsal dusky orconspicuously black. The soft dorsal and anal ranging from colorlessto dusky. Pectoral and caudal without color.Numerous specimens taken from a pond at Inokashiro, jNIusashi,near Tokj'o, and one specimen from Aomori difi'er onh" from these inbeing entirely devoid of plates and in being much darker or moredusk}-. The tins are all more or less dusky and the meml)rane of thespinous dorsal is not darker than the body color. Of 16 specimenscounted an ecpial number have 8 and 9 spines. Botb these and the 62 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. VOL. XXVI.mailed specimens from Yamashiro ^vol?o presented ]>y the ImperialMuseum from the many examples collected ))y Dv. Ishikawa.Steindachner^s specimens seem to have been more slender and to havehad higher spines than ours.(Named for Dr. Franz Steindachner.) 3. PYGOSTEUS UNDECIMALIS Jordan and Starks, new species.Head '6\ to 3| in length; depth 5 to 5i. Dorsal XI or XII (in anequal number of specimens)?10 or 11; anall-9. Eye 3iin head; snout4; interorl)ital slightly less than diameter of eye. Maxillary reachingslightly past tmterior margin of eye. Depth of head li to If its length.Ventral spines yery short and slender, equaling in length two-thirdsto three-fourths diameter of eye. The dorsal spines are subequal inlength to the next to the last and are scarcely half the diameter of theeye'in length. The last one is about a third higher and is equal inlength to the anal spine. ,-r Pig. 1.?Pygosteus undecimalis.The body is entirely deyoid of bony plates in our specimens, exceptin one example where a few plates form a keel on the caudal peduncle.Color dark brown above, lighter below, all of the tins dusky.lliis species differs from Pygodeus demdachnerl in having a moreslender form, a slightly longer head, shorter and more slender ventralspines, and particularly in having more numerous and shorter dorsalspines. The mouth appears to be larger and the caudal peduncle to bethicker. The color is darker.Six specimens, the longest 53 mm. in length, presented by the bap-poro Museum, were taken at Chitose in Hokkaido by Mr. Nozawa.The type is No. 7119, Leland Stanford Junior University Museum.{undecim, eleven.)Family 11. AULORHYNCHID.F:.3. AULICHTHYS Brevoort.Aidkhthy^ (Brevoort) Gill, Vvov. Aca.l. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1862, p. 234,{ja'po}ilcus).Lateral line with a series of sharply keeled plates, each ending in aspine; pectoral tin not emarginate; ventrals inserted under middle oflength of the pectoral tin. NO. 1308. HEMIBRANCHIATE FISHES?JORDAN AND STARK'S. (53Northern Japan; one species known, well separated from the Cali-fornian AulorJi i/n chits flavidus^ by the row of lateral spines; the Hnrays about the .same.(orvA-Os-, tube; ix^^vg^ fish.) 4. AULICHTHYS JAPONICUS Brevoort.AuUchthys japoiiicvs (Brevoort), Gill, Proi-. Acad. Nat. 8c'i. Phila., 1862, p. 234;Shimoda. ? Jordan and Snyder, Check List Fishes Japan, 1901, p. 60;Yokohama.Aulorkynclvus japuiiicux Steindachnkk Ichth. Beitr., X, 1881, p. 1, pi. v, tig. 1;Yokohama.Fwlulariichi' f Genus? )Si)ecies? Ishikawa, Prel. Cat., 1897, p. 31; Nos. 551,552; Boshu.The following' description is from a specimen from Tokj^o, 15 cm.long-.Head 3f in length; depth '2 in snout. Dorsal XXV-9; anal 1-10.Lateral plates 55. Postcaudal plates 13. Ej^e -1 in snout, 2 in post-orbital part of head.The mouth is small, the maxillary is contained 2^ times in the man-dible, which is about half the length of the snout. From the l)ack-ward-extending process from the maxillary a shallow channel runsbackward on top of the snout to within a distance of the eye equal tothe diameter of the eye. From the supraorbital rim a short channelruns forward to each side of the termination of the anterior medianchannel. The interorbital space is slightly convex and somewhatrugose. The length of the opercle is twice that of the rest of thepostorbital part of the head.The pectoral fin is inserted a distance equal to the length of theopercle from the edge of the opercle. The lower rays are the longest;their length is equal to their distance from the posterior orbital margin.The front of the dorsal is midway between the base of the caudal andthe middle of the opercle. The anal is directly under the soft dorsal andabout equal to it in length. Where the anal and the dorsal are depressedthe tips of the longest rays just reach to the base of the last ra}". Thelength of the caudal equals the length of the postorbital part of thehead. The lower edge of the shoulder girdle is rough and is onlycovered bj' thin skin; it appears as a line of dermal bone and runs backnearlj^ to a similar but wider line formed by the edge of pubic bones.The length of the ventrals equals the diameter of the eye.Caudal slightly dusky, other fins colorless; top of head dark; oper-cles dusky above with fine l)rown points; a dark brown streak runsalong prcorbital region to middle of e^^e.We have .specimens from Tokyo, Matsushima, and Boshu. Thespecies is not rare in northern Japan on sandy shores. 64 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.Family HI. AULOSTOMID.E.Body conipve.ssed, elongate, covered with .small, ctenoid scales.Lati'ral line continuous. Head long-; mouth small, at the end of along, compressed tube. Lower jaw prominiMit, with a l)ar1)el at thesymphysis. Premaxlllary feeble, not protractile; maxillary broad,triangular, with a supplemental bone. Teeth minute, in l)ands onlower jaw and vomer. Branchiostegals 4. Gills 4, a slit behind thefourth. Pseudol)ranchia^ well developed. Gill rakers obsolete. Gillmem])ranes separate, free from the isthnms. Air bladder large.Post-temporal free from cranium. Spinous dorsal present, of 8-12very slender free spines; soft dorsal and anal rather long, similar pos-terior, with 23 to 28 rays each; caudal small, rhombic, the middle rayslongest, l)ut not produced into a filament; ventrals abdominal, of 6rays, all articulated; i)ectorals Itroad, rounded, the space in front ofthem scaly. First four verte])rce elongated. Two pyloric caeca. Asingle genus, with two species, found in tropical seas.4. AULOSTOMUS Lacepede.AulostomuH Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poiss., \, 180o, p. 357 {chlnensis) . Aulostoma Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, Poiss., 1845,. p. 820; change of spelling.Polytericlithijs Bleekek, Ternate, II, p. fiOS {valent'mi=cMnensis).Solenostonms Gkonow, Cat. Fishes, FA. Gray, 1854, p. 146 {chinensis).Characters of the genus included above.(avXog.^ tube; (Tto^uy, mouth.) 5. AULOSTOMUS-' VALENTINI Bleeker.VvVLENTiJN, Olid- eu Nieaw-Oost-Ind., Amboyna, III, 1725, pp. 823, 448, 494.I'olypterichtJi!j,i tnlentiiil Bleeker, Ternate II, alxnit 1850, p. 60S; Ternate.Aitlostoma sinends Schlegel, Fauna .Taponica, 1845, p. 520; "Tres rare dans lesmers du Japon."Aulustoma chlneni^e Gv^tiikr, Oat. Fish., Ill, 1861, p. 5;>8; Ani])(>yna; Ancutum(not Aulostomns cldneni^i!^ Lacepede, which, after Linnauis, is a West Indianepecies.The following description is from a specimen 48 cm. in length fromHonolulu. Head 3 in length; depth 11. Dorsal XI-2(?; anal 2(); scalesabout 230.Bod}' elongate, compressed, the least depth just ))ehind base of pec-torals where the body is constricted below. Body expanding verti-cally somewhat at soft dorsal and anal, and abrupt narrowing at caudalpeduncle, which is long and slender with parallel sides.Eye contained 2f in post or])ital part of head, Ti in snout. Lower ?aw somewhat hooked up at tip over front of premaxlllary, jNIaxilla-ries verv l>road, their width a little greater than eve and twice as long. ? Fistularia c/tme?m.s Linnaeus is based chiefly in the Solenostomus caada rotundaUt nfGronow, which is the West Indian species, Aidoi^tomus coloratns. The latter speciesshould properly bear the name cliinensis. NO.130S. IIEMIBRANCIIIATK FISHES?JORDAN AND STARKS. 65Scales fine, strongly ctenoid, at nape becominof somewhat embedded.Area in front of pectorals closely scaled. Head naked.Pectorals short and broad; their length equals twice the diameter ofeye. Ventrals inserted midway' between base of caudal and middleof eye. Dorsal placed directly over anal, which is of equal length.Base of dorsal equal to postorbital part of head and half eye. Lengthof caudal contained 8| in length of snout.Color in alcohol brownish, with 10 or 11 narrow light crossbars,between each of which is a more or less conspicuous broken bar com-posed of diffused spots. Fins yellowish. A black stripe across baseof dorsal and anal rays; a round black spot on upper and lower raysof caudal; a black spot on base of ventrals; and one on middle of max-illary. Other specimens very dark, with scarcely anj^ crossbars.Others show conspicuous longitudinal light bars.This species, common in the tropical seas from Hawaii to India, isrecorded by Schlegel as very rare in Japan. It doubtless belongs tothe fauna of the Riukiu Islands.(Named for its discoverer, Fr. Valentijn, who wrote in 1725 on the"Oud- en Nieuw-Oost-Indien" and the " Waterdieren van Amboina.")Family IV. FISTULARIID.E.Body extremely elongate, much depressed, broader than deep.Scaleless, but having bony plates present on various parts of the body,mostly covered by the skin. Head very long, the anterior bones ofthe skull much produced, forming a long tube, which terminates inthe narrow mouth; this tube formed by the sj^mplectic, proethmoid,metapterygoid, mesopterygoid, quadrate, palatines, vomer, and mes-ethmoid. Both jaws, and usually the vomer and palatines also, withminute teeth; membrane uniting the bones of the tubes below, verylax, so that the tube is capable of much dilation. Post-temporalcoossified with the cranium. Branchiostegals .5 to 7; gills 4, a slitbehind the fourth. Gill membranes separate, free from the isthmus;gill rakers obsolete. Basibranchial elements wanting. Fourth supe-rior pharyngeal missing or anchylosed to third. Pseudobranchisvpresent. Air bladder large. Spinous dorsal fin entirely absent; softdorsal short, posterior, somewhat elevated; anal fin opposite it andsimilar; caudal fin forked, the middle rays produced into a long fila-ment; pectorals small, with a broad base, preceded by a smooth area;processes from hypocoracaid greatly lengthened; supraclavicles XBvysmall; ventral fins very small, wide apart, abdominal, far in advanceof the dorsal, composed of 6 soft rays. Pyloric coeca few; intestineshort. Vertebra3 very numerous (4+44 to 49+28 to 33); the first fourvertebra^ very long. Fishes of the tropical seas, related to the stickle-backs in structure, but with prolonged snout and different ventralfins. A single genus, with a few species.Proc. N. M. vol. xxvi?02 .5 66 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. v<.i.. xxvi. 5. FISTULARIA Linnaeus. -Sofcnostomws Klein, Missus, IV, 1740, p. 23 (nonbinomial).Flsfularia Linx.eus, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., 1758, p. 312 {tabacaria).CannorhyvcJius Cantor, Malayan Fishes, 1850, p. 211 {tabacaria; Fistularia l)eingregarded as preoccupied by Donati in 1750 for a pre-Linnfean genus ofPolyps).Flagellaria GRoy^nv, Cat. Fishes, 1854, p. 146 {tistiUaris=(abacaria) . Character.s of the genus included above. The ])ony shields, charac-teristic of this genus, are the following:1. The narrow strip "along the median line of the hack behind theskull (confluent neural spines).2. The pair of broader lateral dorsal shields. These shields arethe longest, provided anteriorly with a ridge, which is prolonged andextends far backward between the muscles of the back. This ridge isflexible, and does not interfere with the lateral movements of the fish.It appears to serve as a base for the attachment of muscular fibers.3. The narrow shield on the side is the postclavicle, its posterior partbeing dilated and fixed to the lateral dorsal shields.4. The ventral shields are the processes from the hypocoracoids.Their posterior half is broadest, much pitted interiorly. The}^ arenarrower before the middle, leaving a free lanceolate space betweenthem, and are again a little widened anteriorly, where thev join theclavicle and urohyal. These plates extend as far backward as theanchylosed vertebne.{fistula^ a tube or pipe.) a. Upper lateral edges on snout sharply serrated.}). Two middle ridges on snout well sej^arated, diverging on anterior part ofsnout, converging finally on its foremost part; skin nearly smooth. Colorgreenish dejyressa, 6.bb. Two middle ridges on snout close together and parallel on anterior half of itslength, slowly converging forward from the middle; skin rough. Color,reddish jH'timba, 7. 6. FISTULARIA DEPRESSA GiintherYA(tARA ( ARROW-SHAFT ) . Fistularia deprcasa GiJNTHER, Shore Fishes Challenger, 1880, p. 69, pi. xxxii,.tig. D; Sulu Islands, Natal, Zanzibar, Amboyna, China, New Guinea, NewSouth Wales, Fiji, Lower California. ? Jordan and Evermann, Fishes N.and M. Amer., 1, 1898, p. 757; Gulf of California, Panama.The following description was taken from a small specimen 31 cm.in leng'th (without caudal filament), from Wakanoura.Head 2| in length. Depth at pectoral fins equal to long diameter ofeye. Width just behind pectorals three-fifths of width at a point justbehind ventrals. Dorsal 15; anal 14.Body elongate, depressed, as viewed from above the sides are nearlyparallel for a short distance behind pectorals, where it is narrower NO. 1308. HEMIBRANCHIATE FISHES?JORDAN AND STARKS. 67than posterior part of head, but grows abruptl}^ broader at the pos-terior Olid of the upper lateral plates and tapers gradually to thecaudal.The jaws are armed with a row of fine teeth. The maxillary is con-tained Si times in the snout, the mandible 5^ times. Eye nearly twiceas long as high; extreme length of orbit equal to length of maxillary.Interorbital space somewhat concave, less so than in F. petimha, inlarger specimens it is flat at the sides with a channel along its middle;the width is one-third of orbit. The median ridges on snout divergeanteriorly; the distance between them is everywhere greater or asgreat as the distance from them to the upper lateral ridge.The ventrals are inserted from the pectorals a distance equal to thedistance of the pectoral from the anterior margin of the ej^e. Theyare separated at their liase by a space equal to the long diameter ofthe eye. The dorsal and anal are directly opposite to each other andsimilar in shape. The skin is everywhere smooth to the touch.All of our specimens from Japan are plain brown greenish above,but as specimens from other localities may be either plain brown orwith longitudinal stripes and spots of blue, probably blue-spottedexamples occur.The following color description was taken from a fresh specimenfrom Panama, 69 cm. in length:Olive ])rown on upper parts, white below, A pair of narrow bluestripes, interrupted anteriorly and posteriorly, begin at the nape,diverge backward, and cross the lateral line just in front of the pointwhere it becomes straight, then runs just above and parallel to thelateral line as far as the tail. Another pair of streaks, made each ofblue spots, run close along each side of mid-dorsal line, from a pointabove axil of pectorals to front of dorsal. Behind dorsal, a singleseries of spots occupies the median line of back.We have compared specimens from Panama, La Paz, Mexico, andfrom the Hawaiian Islands with our Japanese material and can appie-ciate no difl'erence. The species occurs also in Samoa.Several specimens under 32 cm. in length were collected at Waka-noura, Misaki, and Matsushima.{deprei^sus, depressed. ) 7. FISTULARIA PETIMBA Lacepede.YAGARA.Fistiduria Vivk, John White, Voyage New South Wales, pi. lxiv, fig. 2.FiKliiltirui tabacaria \ar. Block, Ichth., 1794, pi. ccclxxxvii, fig. 2, "Coll. Linkeat Leipzig;" wrongly figured as spotted with l)lue; snout serrate; 2 caudalfilaments.FiMrilaria petimba 'Lacepede, Hist. Nat. Poisg., V, 1803, p. 349 (excl. syn. ); NewBritain, Isle of Reunion, ecpiatorial Pacific; based on specimens and manu-scripts of Commerson; snout serrate; body inniiaculate. ? Jordan and Eveb-MANN, Fish N. and 31. Amer., I, 189S, p. 758. 68 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.Fistularia serrata Cuvier, Regne Animal, 1st ed., 1817, p. 349 (after Bloch).?GuNTHER, Cat., Ill, 1861, p. 533.?GtJNTHER, Shore Fisheg, Challenger, p. 68,pi. xxxii, flg. C, 1880.?Jordan and Gilbert, Synopsis, 1883, p. 390.?IsHiKAWA, Prel. Cat., 1897, p. 31; Tokyo, Kii.Fistularia immaculata Cuvier, Eegne Animal, Ist ed., 1817, p. 349; Sea of theIndies; after Commerson and John White. -Fisfnlaria commersonii Ruppell, Neue Wirbelthiere, 1834, p. 142; Red Sea. |The following description was taken from a specimen 30 cm. inlength from Wakanoura:Head 2i in length; depth at pectorals a little less than long diameterof eye. Dorsal 15; anal 14. jjThis species differs from K depressa in the following characters: ^The ridges on the top of snout are close together and parallel. Thedistance between them is always much less than the distance fromthem to the upper lateral ridge of snout. The head is more deeplysculptured and the ridges are rougher. The interorbital space isdeeply concave and without flat supraorbital areas in the adult. Thespecies may be at once distinguished by the touch, the skin feelingharsh like very line shagreen. The lateral line is armed posteriorlywith sharp bony plates.Some of our specimens show faint traces of broad cross-bars a))outas wide as the diameter of the eye; 3 or 4 are on the snout and 12 or14 on the rest of the body. It is pale or dull reddish brown in life.It seems to be rather less common than K depressa, but neitherspecies is rare in shallow bays of Japan. This species was found atWakanoura, Misaki, and Nagasaki.{petimhuaha , a Portuguese name.)Family V. MACRORHAMPHOSID^E.SNIPE-FISHES.Body compressed, oblong, or elevated, covered with small, roughscales;*^ no lateral line; some bony strips on the side of the back and onthe margin of the thorax and abdomen, the former sometimes confluentinto a shield. Bones of the skull much prolonged anteriorly, forminga long tube which bears the short jaws at the end; no teeth. Gill iopenings wide; branchiostegals 4. Branchihyals and pharyngeals -mostly present, the fourth superior epibranchial and the first and ifourth superior pharyngeals only wanting. Two dorsal fins, the firstof 4 to 7 spines, the second of which is very long and strong; soft dor-sal and anal moderate; ventral fins small, abdominal, of 1 spine and 4 or5 soft rays; pectorals short; caudal fin emarginate, its middle rays notproduced. Air bladder large; pseudobranchite present. Gills 4, aslit behind the fourth; vertebrae about 24, the four anterior ones nmchlengthened; no pyloric c(eca; intestinal canal short. Three or morespecies, chiefly of the Old World, placed in two genera, Macrorham-phostis and Centriscops. NO. 1308. HEMIBRANCHIA TE FISHES?JORDAN AND STARKS. 69 6. MACRORHAMPHOSUS Lacep^de.MacrorhamphosusL,.\CEP'kT)E, Hist. Nat. Poiss, V, 1803, p. 136 {ronmtm=scolopax).Centriscus Cuvier, Regne Anim., 1st. ed., II, 1817, p. 350 {firolopa.r, not Cnilrlscus,Linnteus, which Mas based on scutatus alone).Macwguathus Gronow, Cat. Fishes, 1854, p. 147 (scolopax).Orthlrhth)js Gihh, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1862, j). 234 {rellUiriK).Body oblong, g-raduating- into the caudal peduncle; back straight;dorsal spines about 7. Characters otherwise included above.(/.laKpog, long; paju^og, snout.) ' from the Canary Islands. From them it differs inbeing a little more slender, and in having a slightly smaller eye andlonger snout.Specimens from Misaki and Enoura on Sagami Bay and from deeperwater at Sagami and Saruga Bays, where it was dredged by the U. S.Fish Commission steamer Alhatr