Description of a new species of <I>Prionotus</I> (<I>Prionotus stephanophrys</I>), from the coast of California

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 529

Caves, in GilesCounty,Virginia, curiously enougli, is not blind. This

isparalleled inthe caseoftwo species of spiders, however, which were collected for

me

in a caveinOregon,over a yearago,

by

Professor Cope.

In oneof

them

thereisnot a vestigeof the eyes reuiaining,while inthe other they are well developed.

A

Myriapod, whichappears to be a Julus,from the

same

cavern also has eyes.

The

Folydesmus cavicola Packard, from a caveinUtah, seems tohave well-developedeyes.

The

Orchesellacceca, Avhich still remains to befully described, has veryun- developed eyes, butdiffersinno other essentialfromitscongeners. It

was

also collected inan

Oregon

cavern

by

Professor Cope. Multitudes offactsmight beadded,butthe subjectis toolargeaoneforhastygen- eralizations,

and must

be approached with the

same

thoroughness of purposewhich has characterized the

work

of Messrs.

Darwin

andWal- lace in theiressays

upon

kindred subjects relating totheorigination of species.

We may

be allowed, however, to

add

that, in the absenceof proof tothecontrary, withthe increase in the

number

of

known

bliud forms whichareoften congenericwithlight-lovingspecies, there isthe strongestkindofgroundfor supposingthat theyhave descended from forms which

had

eyes,

and

which wanderedinto these recesses, where, after

many

generations

had

lived and died, a blind form appeared, which resulted from the gradual abortion of the visual organs of its ancestors. Inproof ofthis

we

havethepartiallyblind Orchesella,which

now

seemsto be verging towards such acondition. In the absenceof a greater

number

offacts

we

arenotjustified in inferring more. True,

we

have afew instances amongst the mollusks,

some

of which intheir larval stateshave useful eyes,butwhich afterwards

become

uselessand abort as the shelldevelops

and

gets thicker.

Some

terrestrialMyria- pods areblind, such asEurypmtropus; sois Lumhricus, the earth-worm,

and some

of the dirt-abiding Thysanura, w^hich also live

among

fallen leaves, such as Campodea, while in the burrowing Sijmpkyla {.scolopen- drellcv)the eyes arereduced toa singlepair,withlittleornoredordark coloring in the tapetum,differingwidelyin this respectfrom thecom- pound-eyed, terrestrialMyriapods.

I)ESCKIE»TB©IV

©F A WE^^ SPECIES OF PRIOIVOTUS

(PKIOIVOTUS

Sf

E5»fflAN©I»HKYS),

FK0M THE COAST OF

CAJLIFORNBA.

By

^Y. W.

IL,©CMINGT01V.

Prionotus stephanophrys, sp.nov.

L.lat. 53; D. 10-12; A.11; ^P. 12; V. 1-5; C. 3-1-8-1-3.

Body

less elongate than

m

P. carolinus, head not quite three and a half; greatest depth five

and

a third times intotallength. Greatest depth underthird dorsal ray.

Snout concavein profile; foreheadconveximmediatelyⁱⁿfront of eye, from whichto theorigin of the dorsal fin the ^{profile rises in} almost a

Proc. Nat.Mus. ^{80 34}

April 18, 1881.

530 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

straightline. Dorsaloutlinefrom originof dorsalfintocaudal slightly sigmoid, theportion under base of seconddorsal nearly straight,while thecaudalpeduncle widensatits extremity, is

two and

ahalf times as longasitsleast depth,

and

atitsnarrowest place one-third as deep as the greatestdepth of the fish.

Abdominal

outline slightly curved.

Snout twice as long as longitudinal diameter of eye,which is con- tainedaboutfour

and

ahalf timesinthesideof the

head

; interorbital widthslightlylessthanlongitudinal diameterof eye.

Bones

of

head

less conspicuously striated than usual in the genus.

Preorbital, suborbitalring

and

stay,

and

operculumdistinctly striated, the striie radiating; upper surfaceof head punctate, with short strife

ontheupper marginsof the orbit

and

on theocciput.

Top

ofhead

and

interocular space almost flat, a serrated, crest-like ridgeovereach eyo (hence thespecificname).

The

interorbitalspaceunusually broad, notat allconcave, as broadas eye;a slight traceofa crossfurrow behind the eye. Central ridge of operculum distinct,

and

continued

backwards

considerably

beyond

its

membranous

edge as a strong, sharp si^ine.

A

similar shari) spine

on

the angle of the preoperculum.

A

^strong

spine, smaller than thoseonthe gill-covers, on the scapular bone,

and

a similaroneon the suprascapular region.

A

backward-directed pre- ocularspine.

Mouth

rather large,

somewhat

oblique, the maxillary extending to opposite front of eye; jaws nearly equal; entire upper edge of man- dible hidden

by

the preorbital

when

the

mouth

is closed; loweredge of preorbital set with small spines terminating the striic.

Upper jaw two and

one-sixth timesin length of side of head.

A band

of severalrows ofvilliform teeth alongbothjaws; tipof the upper

jaw

emarginate

and

toothless; villiform teeth onpalatines

and

vomer.

Tongue

thick

and

fleshy.

Eye

lateral, almostcircular; inter- orbital areaflattransversely.

Gill-openings continuous, the

membrane

not joined to the isthmus;

branchiostegals seven. Gill-rakers long

and

slender, about three- fourths aslong as the diameterof theorbit.

First dorsal arising a little anterior to the tip of the operculum;

the third

and

longest spine nearlyequal tohalfthe length of the head, the ninth

and

tenth spines very short, nearly hidden in the skin.

First

and

seconddorsal spines serrated anteriorly. Second dorsal with a nearly straight upper margin, but slightlyhighest infront; rays all

once bifurcate.

Anal commencing and

ending slightlyposterior to the origin

and

termination of the second dorsal; rays allonce bifurcate.

Posterior margin of caudal slightly concave

when

exi:)anded; all the long rays except the

two

outer ones branched, the four central ones three timesbifurcate.

Pectoral i)ear-shaped

when

expanded; the

membrane

between the rays very wide; ^all therays bifurcateexcept theuppermost

and

lower- most; thetipofthefin reaching to the eighth or ninth anal ray

when

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 531

turned straight"backwards.

The

three pectoral filamentsveryslender, the uppermost about half as long as the pectoral fin, which is con- tained two

and

two-thirds timesinthe totallength.

Yentrals four

and

three-fourthstimesin totallength, theirtips nearly reaching the vent; all the rays once bifurcate, the lastunited by

mem-

brane atitsbaseto the abdomen.

Bases of pectoral

and

ventral fins oblique, the pectoral filaments in advance of the ventrals, which are inserted vertically below the an- teriormargin of thepectorals.

Scales ofmoderate size,finelyciliate.

Lower

jaw, gill-membrane,

and

sides

and

upper surface of head scaleless. Scales of breast rather smallerthan thoseofback.

A row

of scalesalong the basal partofthe outer.caudalrays, otherfins scaleless. Lateralline simple.

Generalcolor of

body

slatygrayorleaden

upon

theupi)er two-thirds, the lowest third white.

A

black spot on thedorsal betweenthefourth

and

fifth spines,tracesofit betweenthefifthand sixth. Three rows of black spots on thesecond dorsal, the spots set saddlewise across the rays. Three rows of black spots on caudal, the terminalrow between therays.

Anal

white. Pectoralblack, with whitishcloudings.

Upper

part of head ratherdarker than thebody, asilvery tint aboutthepos- teriorportion ofmaxillary,lower partofgill-cover,andbaseof pectoral.

A

single specimenof thisspecies

was

procuredin the marketof

San

Francisco, October, 1880,

and was

^takenoff Point Eeyes. It is

now

in the United States National

Museum, numbered

27048,

A

^largeproportion of the fish brought tothe San Franciscomarkets

is procuredin the tolerably"deep water oftheregionbetween the rocky islets

known

as theFarallones, the entrance ofSan Francisco Bay,

and

Point Eeyes, a rockypromontory

some

forty miles north of San Fran- cisco. Thislocalityyielded the first specimens of

A

rtedius quadriseri- atus Locktn., Odontopyxis trispmosus Locktn.,Agomis vulsus J.

&

G., Bracliyopsisverrucosus Locktn., BracliyistlnsrosacensJ.

&

G.,Rlppoglos- soidesexilis J.

&

G., Atkeresthes stomias J.

&

G., Cynicofflossus pacijicus Locktn.,

and

Glyptocephalus zachirns Locktn. Brachyopsis xyosternus J.

&

^G.

and

^Artedius pmjettensis Steind. occur there in tolerable abun- dance,

and

ithas

now

furnished the first example of agenus hitherto not

known

tooccurnorth of the GulfofFonseca.

Giinther (Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. ii,195, 190) gives ashort diagnosisof three species of Prionotus from the Pacific, P.horrens Eich., P. hiros- tratus Eich., both from the Gulf of Fonseca,

and

P. miles Jeuyns,from the Galapagos. P. stephanophrys mostresembles thelatter species,but has

much

longer pectorals

and

adifferent coloration, the latter being

"above

mottledbrilliant tile-red; beneath silvery white".

532 PKOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

Table of proportionate measurements, ^•

Locality. Point EeyeSjCal.

Inches lOOtha and of lOOths. length.

Extremelength

Lengthtobaseofmiddle caudal rays Body:

Greatest height Least height oftail

Lengthofcaudal peduncle Preopercular spine Head:

Greatest lengthto tip ofopercularspine.

Distance from snouttonape Greatrstdepthatocciput Width^()t'iiit(lorbitalarea Lengthofsnout

Lengthofoperculumtoendofspine Lengthofmaxillary

Lengthofmandible Occipitalprocess Diameterof orbit Dorsal

:

Distance fromsnout Lengthofbase Heightatthirdspine

(/S'o/Oh'uizthofbase Heightath)ugestray Heightat lastray Anal:

Distance fromsnout Lengthofbase Heightatlongestray Caudal

:

Lengthofmiddle rays L.^ngth ofexternalrays Pectoral:

Upper appendage Secondapjienilage ThirdappemUige Length Ventral

:

Distancefromsnout Length

Branchiostegals Dorsal^.*

Anal Pectoral

K^umberof scales in lateral line

7.60 6.35 100

26 7 15 4 41 28 22 7 15i 14|

16 20

36J 25i 17 28 15 7 02 26

IH

21 25 25 21 17i 47i 32 25

VII X-12 I-IO 13-III 54

San Francisco,

Cal.,

Novemher

15, 1880.

THE FRIO ATE MACKEREIi, AUXIS

^KOCIIEI,

ON THE NEIV

EJVGI.AIV©

COAST.

By

O.

BISOIVN OOOBE.

The

United States Fish

Commission

has obtained

numerous

speci-

mens

of afish before entirely

unknown

in the

Western

Atlantic. This

is the frigate mackerel, Auxis Rocliei, twenty-eight barrels of

whicb

were taken in a mackerelseine ten miles east of Block Island,on the 3d ofAugust,

by

theschooner

"American

Eagle", Capt. Josiab Chase,of Provincetown, Mass.

The

frigate mackerel resembles, in

some

particulars, the

common

mackerel; in others,the bonito

—

^thegenus Auxis beingintermediate in