256 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



I. Ventral fins present in a rudimentary condition ; pectoral with 



the axilla much nearer the back than the breast. 

 a. Dorsal fin interrupted behind, and with its rays replaced by 



short spines Zoakceinje. 



Zoarces. 



($. Dorsal fin continuous Lycodin-2E. 



Lycodes. 



II. Ventral fins obsolete ; pectoral with its axil nearer the breast 



than the back Gymnelinjb 



Gymnelis. 



Subfamily ZOARCEINZE Gill. 



Synonymy. 



Zoarceinse Gill, Catalogue of the Fishes of the Eastern Coast of North 



America, &c, p. 45, 1860. 

 Anarrhicinae pt. Bon. 

 Anarrhicbadinse pt. Bon. 

 Anarrhichfeformes pt. Blkr. 



Genus ENCHELYOPUS Gronovius. 



Synonymy. 



Enchelyopus Klein, Historic Piscium Naturalis promovendse Missus quartus, 



p. 51, 1744. 

 Enchelyopus Gronovius, Zoophylacise Gronoviani fasciculus primus, p. 77, 



1763. 

 Les Zoarcus Cuvier, Regne Animal, ed. 2, tome ii. p. 240, 1829. 

 Zoarcus McMurtrie, The Animal Kingdom of Cuvier, vol. ii. p. 176, 1831. 

 Zoarcseus Epstrom. 

 Zoarceus Bernhardt, Wiegmann's Archiv. fur Naturgeschichte, 1837, b. i. 



p. 235. 

 Zoarchus Swainson, Natural History of Fishes, Amphibians and Reptiles, vol. 



ii. p. 283, 1839. 

 Blennius sp. Linn, et Linnseani. 



Body elongated, subcylindrical anteriorly, compressed towards the tail, 

 into which it gradually tapers. Anus in the second third of the length, with 

 a moderately elevated periphery. 



Scales minute, imbedded in the skin. 



Head oblong, moderate and decurved in front to the snout. Eyes mode- 

 rate, entirely in the anterior half of the head. Nostrils simple. 



Mouth with the cleft little oblique and more or less deep ; the supraniaxil- 

 lars extending mostly under or behind the eyes. Jaws nearly even. 



Teeth subcylindrical and conic, pauciserial on the jaws. Palate smooth. 



Branchial apertures rather large, oblique and extending forwards and 

 downwards ; separated by an isthmus little wider than the distance between 

 the ventrals. 



Branchiostegal rays six. 



Dorsal fin commencing nearly above the pectoral fins, interrupted near its 

 end for a short interval, where the rays are atrophied and replaced by very 

 short, pungent spines ; the short portion behind, as well as the anal, confluent 

 with the caudal. 



Pectoral fins moderate, inserted moderately high on the humeral arch, 

 rounded behind. 



Ventral fins moderately approximated, in advance of the pectorals, provided 

 with three or four branched rays. 



The type of this genus was placed among the Bfennii by Artedi and Lin- 

 naeus, and the naturalists of the true Linnsean school, as late as the early 



[Sept. 



