Description of a new flounder (<I>Hippoglossoides exilis</I>), from the coast of California

154 PEOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

TaMeof measurements

—

^Continued.

Head:

Lengthofmaxillary Lengthofmaiuliljlo

Depthofmanilible Diameterof orbit Lengthofmamillary barbel Dorsal(spinous)

:

Distance from snout Greatest height

Length ofw{*°f-JfpP«,-J>--;

Dorsal(soft)

'

T„^„+i, r.func,.^toend ofmembrane.

Length ofbase

^^^^^^^^^^

Heightoflongestray Anal:

Distancefrom snout

Length ofbase{^o-'l«4-f_-^--- Heightof longestray

Caudal,length Pectoral,length Ventral

:

Distancefiom snout Length

Dorsali-ays

Anallays Pectoralrays Ventral rays

I^umberoftubesinlateralline

Numberof plates in dorsal series

Numberof plates inlowerlateral series.. .

Xyosternus, Santa Cruz.

Yei'n(cosiis,

PnntaKeyes.

7.5 12

2.5 6 1

25.5

13.5 12 52 24 10 16.5 24.5 28 29.5 LS-T

11 14

L2

37 35 35

Santa Oruz,

Oal., April20, 1880.

DESCRIPTBON OF A NEIY

FliOffJIVlJEK (HIPPOCiliOSSOIDFS EXBIilS),

FROM THE COAST OF CALIF OBNIA.

By ©ATI®

S.

JOKOAWf amd C1IAEI.ES M. GILKEKT.

Hippoglossoidesexilissp. nov.

Eyes and

color on the riglit side.

Body

elongate, comparatively slender, ratherclosely compressed^; the dorsaloutline

more

curvedthan theventral,

and

neither strongly arched; the

body

tapering

backwards

Intoa slender caudal j)eduncle, which isconsiderably longer thandeep.

Greatestdepth aboutone-thirdthelengthtobase of caudle.

Head

moderate, not obtuse, theoutline ofthe snout continuous with thedescendingprofileof the back.

Mouth

not large,very ^oblique,the upper

jaw

withitsmargin on eachsideconcave, the lower

jaw

correspond- ingly convex.

Lower jaw

slightly protruding, with a distinct sym- physeal knob. Maxillary rather narrow, its x>osterior end obliquely truncate, notextendingquite to oi)posite the middleof thepui)il. Pre- maxillaryanteriorlyonthe levelof the interorbitalspace.

Teethallconical, the upper

jaw

withtvvo distinct series; outerseries of teeth smallerthanin the other speciesof Hippoglossoides, not large anteriorly,

and

becoming quite small posteriorly. Teeth of the inner series quite small, closely

and

evenly set.

Lower jaw

^with a single

PEOCEEDING^ OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 155

series of close-set teeth,mucli smaller than in the outerseriesof the upper jaw.

Eyes

hirge, thelower

somewhat

in advanceof the upper,their diam- etertwo-sevenths of the length of the head.

The

uppereye withsome verticalrange,butnot encroachingon the dorsalline.

Interorhitalspace a verynarrowsharpridge,withthreerowsofsmall scales, aslight ridge connecting itwith the lateral line.

A

^{series of}

mucous

pores around lower eye behind.

About

8 scales in a series obliquelyacross the cheeks.

Gill-rakersrather slender, shorter than in the other species of this genus, but similar in form, compressed, toothed on the inner edge,

somewhat

curvedforwards.

About

10of

them

belowthe angle of the arch, the longestnot one-thirdthe diameter of theeye.

Scales comparatively large, very

much

larger than in the other species of Hippoglossoides,thin, almost membranaceous,

and somewhat

readily deciduous, their edges conspicuously ctenoid, but

much

less

rough thanin H.jordani. Inthelatterspecies the scales are of

much

firmer texture,

and

theirciliaare spine-like

and

stiff.

The

character of the scales is similar to that of AtherestJiesstomias, which this species also simulatesinform

and

color. Scaleson the

head

entirely'similarto those on the body, but

somewhat

smaller. Those on left side also similar, but less strongly ctenoid.

They

are, however, considerably rougherthan onthe blind side inrelated spepies.

Laterallinevery i)rominent,itstubes coarse. It is straightbehind, slightly

and

regularly rising anteriorly,without trace of arch or con- vexity.

Eays

of both dorsal

and

anal fins extensively scaly on bothsides.

Scales extending high

up

on allthefins. Scales 16-71-18 (12-125-43 in Hippoglossoidesjordmii

)

.

Finslow,rather fragile, therays setwellapart.

Dorsalfin beginning immediately in front of the pupil, its anterior raysverylow, the highestrays

much

behindthemiddle ofthefin,their height

much

lessthan the length of thecaudal peduncle,

and

butlittle

more

thanthe diameterof the eye.

Anal

^fin similar tothe dorsal, butratherhigher, preceded

by

aspine whichis shorterthaninH.jordani.

Caudal fin long,

somewhat

pointed, the middle rays unusuallypro- duced.

Pectoral fins small, little

more

thanhalf the length of the head, that of theleftside lessthana third. Ventralfins both ^lateral, small,not reaching to theanalspine.

Fin rays: D. ₇₈; A. C2; Y. 6.

Color pale olivaceousbrown, rendered darker

by

blackpunctulations, which form an edging around each scale,sometimes with afew very faintbronze si)ots. Fins

somewhat

dusky, especially the caudal

and

156 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

pectoral; dorsal

and

anal

edged

withyellowislianteriorly; ventrals with considerablelight yellow.

Thisspecies is

known

to ns from

upwards

of a

hundred

specimens taken in sweep-netsbetweenthe

Golden Gate and

Point Keyes.

All the specimens are small, ranging from 8 to 12 inchesinlength.

Itsabundance, inthe

San

Francisco

market

at least, seems tobe con- fined tothe

month

of April.

Itsrelations arenotintimate with the

two

speciesof this genus pre- viously

known

—

H.j)latessoides of theNorthAtlantic

and

H.jordaniof the iSTorth Pacific.

From

both it differs in the elongate form,

much

largerscales, fevv^erfin rays, smallerteeth, &c.

With H.

jordani,which inhabits the

same

waters,it agrees in scarcely

any

respect, excepting inthe characters of the genus Hippoglossoides, i. e., the large mouth, conical teeth, ctenoidscales, simi)le,straight, lateralline,convexcaudal, dextral eyes, «&c.

Tahle of measurements.

Extremelength, ininches

Lengthtobaseof caudal, ininches=^100.

.

Body:

Greatest height Least height

Lengthofcaudalpeduncle Head:

Greatestlength Widthof interorbitalarea Length(ifsnout Lengthof ovbii Lengthofmaxillary Lengthofmandible LengthoflongestgUl-raker Dorsal

:

Distance from snout Greatest height Anal

:

Distance fromsnout Heightatlongestray Caudal:

Lengthofmiddlerays Lengthofouter rays Pectoral:

liiiiht side,lensth Leftside,liuiith Ventral, rightside,length Dorsal rays

Analrays Scalesinlateralline

Scales in transverserowabovelateralline Scales in transverserowbelowlateralline

Exilis.