Volume 27, Plate I / Ichthyology (Fish)

Banded Ophisurus

Ophisurus alternans

A curiously marked, snake-like fish of no great size, conspicuous for the regular banding and spotting of its body, with a delicate bluish-grey ground and thirty to thirty-two deep rich brown bands, the intervals sometimes bearing one or two round spots that may multiply with age. Its motion is very slow, smooth and gliding, the spine conducting all movement, and it was discovered on the coast of the island of Guam.