698 TELEOSTEI CHAP. 



by the intervention of the plate-like pterygials, of which one, 

 two, or three are in contact with the clavicle ; the coracoid more 

 or less reduced. Ventral fins close together, with 1 spine and 

 2 to 5 soft rays (absent in Ereunias}. Spinous dorsal usually 

 shorter than the soft, sometimes quite indistinct ; anal without 

 spines. Body naked, partially scaly, or with prickles or bony plates. 



Mostly small carnivorous fishes, the largest (Scorpaenichthys) 

 growing to about 3 feet. Some species inhabit fresh waters, but 

 the majority are marine, a few descending to great depths. 

 Nearly all are from the northern regions, but a genus allied to 

 Coitus (Sderocottus) is from South Georgia, in the Antarctic 

 region. Fossil Cottidae are known from the Upper Eocene and 

 Miocene (Eocottus, Lepidocottus), and are distinguished from the 

 modern forms in the smaller number of vertebrae (24 or 26 

 instead of 30 to 50). At least 220 species are known. Principal 

 genera : Jordania, Scorpaenichthys, Icelus, Triglops, Coitus, Cottun- 

 culus, Blepsias, PseudoUetinius, Hemitripterus, Synchirus, Asce- 

 lichtliys, Psyclirolutes, Ereunias. The little freshwater " Miller's 

 Thumb " (Coitus golio) and the larger marine " Bull-heads " (C. 

 lubalis and C. scorpius) are the most familiar British representa- 

 tives of this family. The eggs are deposited on stones, weeds, or 

 other submerged objects, or in a sort of nest, and are guarded by 

 the male, which in most species is distinguished by a large genital 

 papilla ; this, in some forms, acts as an intromittent organ. 



Fam. 6. Cyclopteridae. Very closely related to the pre- 

 ceding, with which they are connected through Psyclirolutes, and it 

 is even doubtful whether they deserve to be separated from them. 

 The only important distinctive characters reside in the structure 

 of the ventrals, which, if present (absent in Paraliparis, a close 

 ally of Liparis), are united to form a sucking disk, and the small 

 size of the gill-cleft. The body is short, tumid, tadpole-like, 

 naked or tubercular; the spinous dorsal, if present, is short. 

 Vertebrae 28 to 60, the skeleton feebly ossified. 1 



Sluggish fishes, feeding on small animals and plants, from 

 the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Arctic and 

 Antarctic seas, many descending to great depths (1800 fathoms). 

 About fifty species are distinguished. Principal genera : Cydo- 

 pterus, Cydopterichthys, Liparops, Liparis, Careproctus, Paraliparis. 



1 The anatomy and external characters of these fishes have been fully mono- 

 graphed by S, Garman, Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool. xiv. No. 2, 1892. 



