Description of a new species of <I>Ptychochilus</I> (<I>Ptychochilus harfordi</I>), from Sacramento River

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72 PEOCEEDIXGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

verging ridges under the scales. Preorbital with a smallsi)iue, which

is sometimesobsolete.

Preopercle with rather strong spines, the two at the anglelongest.

Opercle withtwostrong spines. Suprascapularspines present.

Gill-rakers numerous, long

and

very strong, their length half the diameter of theeye, their

number

about _./V.

Scales smaller than in most of the species, in about 66 transverse series.

Spinous dorsal low, the fourth to seventh spines highest, all lower thanthe soft dorsal, the fin not deeply emarginate. Third anal spine slightlylongerthan the second, but not so strong. Caudal tin emarginate. Pectoralfins long, reaching

beyond

thetips of the veutrals to the base of the tenth dorsal spine. Ventrals not reaching to thevent.

Finrays: D. XII, 1,15; A. Ill,9.

Color slaty black, becoming lighter below the lateral line. Belly scarcely pale. Sides often

somewhat

mottled. Tip of lower

jaw

black.

Top

of head with three indistinct cross-bars: onein frontof eyes, con- tinued around anterior rim of orbit,

and

extending backwards across the cheeks; one between the orbits, reappearing below in a second oblique cheek-band; thethird across occiput,extendingobliquelyback- wardstothe upperangle of theopercle. Fins plain dusky.

Peritoneum black, as in *S'. ovalis, S. eiitonielas,

and

S. ciliatus. In S.melanops

and

its near relative ^S'.flavidusthe peritoneum is always white.

United States National Museum,

January5, 1881.

DJKSCRDPTffOiV

OF A

^IVEAV

SPECIES OE PTVCHOniSI>lJS (PTVCHO-

ccaat-us

hakfokda), ebo:« sacbauei^to river.

By DAVID S.JOISDAIV and CHARLES H. OILBEKT.

Ptychochilus ^harfordi,^sp.^nov.

Alliedto Pt. oregonensis (Rich.),but with

much

smallerscales.

Body

long

and

slender, little compressed, the backnot elevated, the caudalpeduncle large

and

stout. Greatestdepth of

body

contained ^{5'^}

timesinitslength fromsnoutto base of caudal.

Head

long,pike-like, subconic, rather slender, broad

and

depressed above.

Length

of head contained4times inlengthtobaseofcaudal Motithterminal, oblique, the lower

jaw somewhat

projecting. Premaxillary anteriorly on the level of the eye. Maxillary, as inotherspecies, closely adherentto the preorbital,except nearits end, where^it slipsunder the preorbital, its tipextendingjust

beyond

theverticalfrom the frontoftheeye.

Length

of cleft of

mouth

contained 2| times in length of head. Interorbital width32 timesin the lengtho1 head.

Eye

small,placedhigh,itsdiam- eter contained 3 times in the length of thesnout, 10 times in that of the head. Cheeks very broad. Lips normal, as in otherspecies of the

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PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 73

genus. Gill-rakers^'erysbort. Pseudobraucliiailarge. Gill-membranes

in one specimen united

and

whollyfree fromtheisthmus; inthe others joined as usual in Cyprinidcv.

The

condition in the first specimen is

doubtless abnormal. Pharyngeal bones

and

teeth as in the other species of the genus; the teeth _2, 4-5, 2, slender, hooked, without gnnd- ing surface.

Scales 17-90-9, those on the back

and

bellyrather smaller than the others,those od the breast imbedded. Lateral line very strongly de- curved, itslowest x)oint scarcelyabove theline of insertionof thepec- toral fins.

Dorsaltin inserted at a point

midway

between ey^

and

base of caudal, a little behind the insertion of the ventrals. Caudal short

and

deep, not strongly forked, the lobes equal, the accessory rays not numerous. Pectoralsnot large, extendingthree-fifthsthe distancetothe ventrals,whichreach two-thirds the distancetothevent.

Anal

finsmall.

Dorsal raysI, 8^; anal I, 7.

This species reachesa length of nearly 3feet. Itis broughtinto the markets of

San

Francisco in considerable

numbers

in the winter, in

company

withthe closely related

and

still larger species FtycJiochiliis oregonensis {Pt.grandis Ayres),with which species ithas been hitherto confounded.

The

latter species is,

however

at once distinguished

by

itslarger scales, theusual

number

being12-75-0. Ptychochilus rapax Grd.has the larger scales of Ptychochilus oregonensis,

and

the lateral lineisrepresentedaslittledecurved, the scales

more

looselyimbricated

;

and

Pt. lucius Grd., from the Colorado River,is represented as having the scales still smaller than in Pt. harfordi, while ^'Ptychochilus vorax Grd."is not a

member

of this genus at all, but belongs to the group

called-Gila.

We

have

named

thisspecies for]\Ir.

W.

G.

W.

Ilarford, curatorofthe California

Academy

^of^Sciences,

who

has taken

much

interest inthede- velopmentof the ichthyology of California,

and

to

whom

the Kational

Museum

hasbeenindebted for

many

favors.

The

typical specimens, four innumber, are entered as No. 2724C on the

Museum

Eegister.

The

^largest one is about 18 inchesin length, the others alittle smaller.

They

were obtained

by

the writers in the

San

Franciscomarket,

and

were takeninthe SacramentoEiver.

United States National Museum,

January5, 1881.

IVOTE OIV

BAIA

fllVORNATA.

By DAVID S.JOIIDAIV and CIIAKH^ES BI. GIS.BERT.

Four

species of the genus Raia are

known

from the Pacificcoastof theUnited States.

One

of these ^vas described

by

Girard,under the

name

of

Raia

hinoculata, intheProc. Acad.Nat.Sci. Phila.,1854,p.196,

and

laterunder the

name

of Uraptera hinoculata.

The

description con-