THE FISHES OF ALASKA. 



311 



133. Myoxocephalus jaok (Cuvier & Valenciennes). 



Two specimens, 11 and 9.5 inches, respectively, collected at Tareinski Harbor, Kamchatka, June 21, 

 1901. The following description is taken from the larger example: 



Head 2.5 in length; depth 0.2; eye 6.5 in head; snout 3.75; maxillary 2.1; mandible 2.1; inter- 

 orbital equal to eye; dorsal vm, 15; anall4; pectoral IS; caudal with 9 forked rays; ventrall,3; lateral 

 1 i 1 1 < • about 4(>. 



Body elongate, somewhat depressed anteriorly, terete posteriorly; caudal peduncle stoul and short, 

 Halt ish above and below; head long, its profile nearly straight, a depression between eyes and lie- sharp 

 high nasal spines, a very prominent rounded projection between the latter, into which tie- premaxillary 



projects. I lie out line from this projection to snout straight and steep; snout somewhat acute; mouth large, 



gape extending to below middle of pupil; maxillary extending a distance equal to pupi] beyond posterior 

 margin or orliit . its breadth 1.3 in eye. its edge slipping somewhat under the preorbital and its body as a 

 whole lilting into a depression in the cheek so that it- Burface is mi n level with the cheek, thus matching 

 (lie rest of the cheek in surface and color; maxillary inconspicuous; upper lip a broad, high fold, 1> ing 

 well back over the anterior edge of maxillary; teeth small, sharp, in broad villiform hands in jaws, the 

 inner rows somewhat larger, sharper, these depressible and pointing backward; band of teeth in upper 

 jaw interrupted by a narrow mesial fold; teeth on vomer in a rather large V-shaped patch, the teeth 

 larger than those of jaws; palatines toothless; tongue large, bluntlv round. 



Anterior nostril in front of eye and considerably below nasal spine, posterior nostril a prominent tube 

 above and behind anterior nostril and midway between nasal spine and eye; intcrorhital space rather 

 broad, concave, continuous with the somewhat broader 



and Batter occipital space; nasal spines high and sharp. 



supraoccipital ridges high, terminating posteriorly in a 



rather blunt < Leal postocular spine, this with a smaller 



tubercle in front, several short ridge-like tuberclesbe- 

 liind them; parietal ridges prominent converging pos- 

 teriorly, terminating in rather sharp backwardly pro- 

 jecting spines, on t ne outer side of this ridge a concave 

 depression hounded !>ya broken elevated ridge subor- 

 bital stay prominent, slender, long, striate, extending 

 from beneath eye nearly to root of upper preopercular 



spine; preopercular spines 3, the upper much tile 



longer, about equal to eye. pointing backward and 

 slightly upward, covered with skin nearly to the tip; 



second spine conical, acute, not half as long as upper, pointing backward and somewhat outward; 

 lower spine stout, short, pointing downward and forward; opercular spine short, stout, and sharp. 

 terminating a long high ridge, which extends anteriorly almost to base of opercle, preopercular Bap 

 extending some distance beyond thespine; scapular spine short, sharp, and stout, terminating a high 

 ridge, at the base of which is a small tubercle; gills with a longslil behind die last. 



Origin of spinous dorsal on a vertical with tip of scapular spine, the base 2.:! in head, the third spine 



longest. 3.6 in head the membrane reaching nearly to the tips of the spines behind, somewhat scalloped 



between lliem, the margin of the fin straight, descending regularly from the third to eighth, which i- 

 very short and without free margin; space between spinous and soft dorsals 2 in eye. base of soft dorsal 

 1.5 in head, its rays about equal, except a few of the last, the longest rays 3.1 in head, none of the rays 

 projecting beyond membrane; contour of fin somewhat rounded in front, upper margin straight; anal 

 similar to soft dorsal, its origin under base of third dorsal ray. its base 2.1 in head, its median rays about 

 3.75 in head; caudal truncate, tips of the rays slightly projecting; pectoral broad, rounded, the rays 

 stout and simple, the lower somewhat stouter and much shorter, acute, somewhat free at tips, the broad 

 procurrent base well covered by the gill-membranes, length of tin 1.75 in head, its tip scarcely reach- 

 ing vent ; ventrals 3.1 in head, narrow, inner rays longest, tips reaching half way to vent. 



Body naked, a row of stellate disks above and quite near to lateral line, an irregular patch of similar 

 but smaller disks in axillary region, extending backward in a single row, but becoming mere sharp 

 prickles posteriorly; top and' sides of head covered as far back as base of dorsal with small warty promi- 

 nences, those in occipital region depressed and crater-like at the top, those in the latero-occipital pits 

 rounded: no cirri. 



Fio.68.— Myoxocephalus jaok (Cuvier d Valenciennes). 



