Plagiostomata of the Pacific. Pt. I. Fam. Heterodontidae / by N. de Miklouho-Maclay and William Macleay.
- Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay
- Date:
- [1878]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Plagiostomata of the Pacific. Pt. I. Fam. Heterodontidae / by N. de Miklouho-Maclay and William Macleay. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![The spiracle is small, nearly circular, and about half the largest diameter of the orbit beneath the posterior margin of the eye. The gill openings, five in number, are placed at gradually decreasing distances apart; the first is more than twice the length of the fifth. The first dorsal fin takes its rise immedi- ately behind thq vertical from the root of the ventrals ; the spine is very strong, blunt, compressed, three-fourths covered with skin, and about one-half the height of the fin to which it is attached ; the fin itself is of a somewhat triangular shape, the anterior edge rather rounded, the summit also rounded, the hinder edge obliquely truncated, and the posterior angle rather pointed and produced. The second dorsal is situated a short distance in advance of the vertical from the anal, and is the exact counterpart of the first dorsal, excepting that it is one- third smaller. The caudal fin is rather short and deep, the antero-inferior lobe is convex on its anterior edge, about the size of the first dorsal, separated from the posterior lobe by a pro- found excavation which is rounded at its base, and with the pos- terior edge of the anterior almost parallel to the anterior edge of the posterior lobe; this last is small, triangular, and separated almost to the very extremity of the fin from the superior lobe by the prolongation of the vertebral portion. In the adult female, the space between the inferior lobes is more open. The extremity of the tail is obliquely truncate. The anal fin is smaller than the second dorsal, but of much the same form ; its apex is distant more than its own length from the commencement of the tail. The pectoral fins are very large, equal in length to one-fifth and in width to one-seventh of the total length of the fish. The ventral fins are nearly square, and are equidistant between the vertical from the first and and second dorsal. The skin is roughly shagreened, and has a slightly seri- ceous lustre. The colour in the fresh specimen is reddish- brown above, and yellow with a pinkish tinge beneath. A dark band crosses the inter-orbital space, and extends down the cheeks as far as the plane of the middle of the gill openings; a second dark band commences on the occiput, a [7]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22367913_0009.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
