_U. elongata; rostro obtusissimo, tumido, haud ultrà fauces producto,
margine inferiore quadrilobato, lobis intermediis rotundatis;
fossulá longitudinali inter nares, profundè exaratâ; poris quatuor
infrà symphysin; dentibus velutinis, serie externâ in maxillâ
superiore aculeiformi; preoperculo obsoletè denticulato; operculo
mucronibus duobus parvis instructo; spinis dorsalibus tertiâ et
quartâ longissimis, corporis altitudinem æquantibus; spinâ anali
gracili, radiis articulatis dimidio breviori._
D. 12—1/22; A. 1/9; C. 17; P. 20; V. 1/5.
LONG. unc. 6. lin. 5.
FORM.—Very much elongated; the greatest depth just one-sixth of the
entire length; the head one-fifth. Dorsal line nearly straight.
Profile falling very slightly till it reaches the nostrils, when it
suddenly becomes vertical. Snout in consequence short, and very
blunt, and not projecting beyond the jaws; with a deep broad channel
down the middle, extending from between the nostrils to near the
mouth: on each side of this channel, the snout is very protuberant.
The lower margin of the snout is divided into four lobes, the
central pair of which are rounded: above each of the exterior lobes
is one large pore, and an odd one in the middle. There are also four
pores beneath the symphysis, and a short barbule, as in the last
species. The eye has a diameter about one-fifth the length of the
head, and is distant one diameter from the end of the snout. The
nostrils, which are immediately in advance of the eye, consist of
two round apertures, one before the other, the posterior one double
the size of the anterior. Upper jaw a very little longer than the
lower. A band of velutine teeth in each jaw; with an outer row above
of moderately strong card, rather curving inwards and backwards, and
closer-set than those of the _U. arenata_, amounting to twenty-eight
or thirty in number: there are also some smaller card teeth behind
this outer row passing insensibly into the velutine. Preopercle very
obsoletely denticulated. Opercle with two flat points not very
obvious.
First dorsal triangular, and moderately high in the point; third and
fourth spines longest, about equalling the depth of the body; first
spine very small: all the spines rather slender. Second dorsal about
half as long again as the first, but the rays are too much broken to
judge of their relative lengths. Anal spine very slender, and about
half the length of the soft rays. The caudal is injured, but appears
to have been of nearly the same form as in the _U. arenata_. The
pectorals are about three-fourths the length of the head, but the
ends of the rays are worn. The ventrals are of the same length as
the pectorals in their present state: they are placed rather
backwarder than in the _U. arenata_, being attached beneath the
first third of the pectorals: there is a pointed scale in their
axilla, of about the same relative size as in that species. The
scales on the body are rather smaller, ciliated on their free edges,
with a fan of eleven or twelve striæ behind. There are rows of small
scales on the caudal, but none apparent on the other fins.
COLOUR.—Mr. Darwin did not notice the colours of this species in its
recent state. _In spirits_, it appears of a nearly uniform dusky
brown, but paler on the abdomen, with traces of silvery reflections
about the head. The fins are dark, but the anal paler at the base
than at the tips of the rays.
Habitat, Coquimbo, Chile.
This species may be at once distinguished from all those described in
the ‘Histoire des Poissons,’ by its very elongated form. The head also
has a peculiar character about it, and is not unlike that of some
serpents. It appears to be the first species of this genus brought from
the Pacific, the other foreign ones being all found either in the Indian
seas, or on the Atlantic side of America. There are two specimens in the
collection, exactly similar, and both obtained by Mr. Darwin at
Coquimbo. They are, however, both in very bad condition; so much so,
indeed, that I should have hesitated about describing them as new, had
they not presented several obvious peculiarities.