184 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



Genus 2. Liparis, Artedi. 



Cy clog aster, Gronov. 



Branchiostegals Jive or six : pseudobranchice, if present, rudimentary. Body 

 anteriorly subcylindrical, posteriorly compressed, the whole being enveloped in a 

 loose, movable shin. A bonxj process proceeds from the infraorbital ring of bones 

 and passes backwards to the edge of the preopercle. Cleft of mouth almost horizontal. 

 A wide, rasp-like, band of teeth in both jaws, none on the palate nor on the 

 tongue. Gill-openings narrow, the gill membranes united and attached to the 

 isthmus. A single dorsal fin, the anterior rays of which, though not articulated, 

 are flexible : ventrals united, and forming a more or less circular adhesive disc. 

 Coecal appendages in moderate numbers or numerous. 



Gill remarks (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1864, p. 190) that among the species 

 forming 1 this genus considerable variation exists, especially in the relations of 

 the dorsal and anal fins to the caudal, these fins being, in some species, completely 

 isolated, while in others they are coalescent, and united in an almost anguilliform 

 posterior fin. In the latter, the nostrils also appear to be simple, while in the former 

 the posterior ones are tubular. These differences appear still further to be 

 coincident with a disj)arity in the number of caudal vertebras, and of the rays of 

 the vertical fins. 



Geographical distribution. These small littoral species occasionally ascend 

 into fresh waters, and extend from the Arctic Ocean southwards into temperate 

 regions : one species being found even within the tropics. Two British species 

 are admitted, but it seems possible that the one known as Liparis Montagui is the 

 commonest, and noti. vulgaris, unless in the more northern latitudes. Neither is 

 L. Montagui, although termed the diminutive sucker, so much less in size than the 

 "unctuous sucker." Unless in colour, the differences between the two are but 

 slight. 



1. Liparis vulgaris, Plate LYI, fig. 1. 



Sea snail, Willughby, Ich. Append, p. 17 ; Low, Nat. Hist. Orkneys, p. 178 ; 

 Petiver, Gazoph. t. Ii, f . 5. Liparis nostras, "Will. Appendix, p. 17, t. H 6, f . 1 ; 

 Ray, p. 74. Gobio, sp. Kolr. Nov. Comm. Petroph. ix, p. 439, t. ix, f. 5, 6. 

 Cyclogaster, sp. Gronov. Zooph. No. 198, Act. Helv. iv, p. 265, No. 165, t. xiii. 

 Liparis, sp. Bl. Schn. p. 569. Unctuous sucker, Penn. Brit. Zool. (Ed. 1776) iii, 

 p. 135, pi. xxi (Ed. 1812) iii, p. 179, pi. xxiv. 



Cyclopterus liparis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 414 ; Bonn. Atl. Ich. p. 27, pi. xx. 

 f. Q7 ; Bl. t. 123, f. 3, 4; Gmel. Linn. p. 1477; Lacep. ii, p. 69; Donovan, Brit. 

 Pish, ii, pi. xlvii ; Turton, p. 115 ; Johnston, Berwick. Nat. Club. 1838, i, p. 174 ; 

 Schleg. Dieren Neder. p. 60, pi. vi, f. 2. 



Liparis vulgaris, Flem. Brit. An. p. 190; Yarrell, Brit. Fish. (Ed. 1) ii, p. 274, 

 c. fig. (Ed. 2) ii, p. 371 (Ed. 3) ii, p. 349 ; Nilss. Skan. Faun. p. 237; Flem. Brit. 

 An. p. 190 ; Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 472 ; Kroyer, Dan. Fiske, ii, p. 534 ; Parnell, 

 Wern. Mem. vii, p. 383, and Fishes Firth of Forth, p. 223 ; Thompson, Nat. Hist. 

 Ireland, iv, p. 221 ; White, Catal. Fish. p. 109 ; Giinther, Catal. iii, p. 159 and 

 Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (4) 1874, xiii, p. 139 ; Mcintosh, Fish. N. Uist. P. R. S. 

 of Edin. V. 1862-66, p. 614, and Fish. St. Andrew's, p. 175; H. Malmgren, Spets. 

 Fisk Fauna, p. 510 ; Moreau, Poiss. France, iii, p. 353 ; Winther, Prod. Ich. Dan. 

 Mar. 1879, p. 20. 



Liparis communis, Sabine, Appen. Parry's first Yoy. p. 212. 



Liparis barbatus, Ekst. Yet. Ak. Hand. 1832, p. 168, t. v, and Fisk. Scheer. 

 Mork('), p. 112, t. v; Nilss. Skan. Faun. Fisk. p. 237; Kroye^ ii, p. 534. 



Liparis ophidoides, Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 339. 



Cyclogastt r li]>aris, Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 40. 



Liparis lineattis, Collett, Norges Fiske, p. 65. 



