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332 KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCIENCE BULLETIN. 



The description from Jordan and Evermann's "Fishes of 

 North and Middle America" is as follows : 



"Family Anarrhichadidse, p. 2445, vol. III. 



"Body oblong or elongate, covered with rudimentary scales ; 

 no lateral line. Head scaleless, without cirri, its bones very 

 thick and strong, the profile strongly decurved. Mouth very 

 large, oblique, the jaws anteriorly with very strong conical 

 canines; sides of lower jaw with very strong molar teeth, 

 which shut against a series of very coarse molars on the pala- 

 tines; vomer solid, armed with very strong molar teeth, the 

 dentition adapted for crushing sea-urchins and mollusks. Gill 

 membranes broadly united to the isthmus; no pyloric caeca. 

 Dorsal fin high, composed entirely of flexible spines ; no ventral 

 fins ; pectoral fins broad, placed low. Large carnivorous fish of 

 the northern seas. Two genera and about six species known." 



(Blennidse, pt., Giinther, Cat. iii, 208-211, 1861.) 



The species Anarrhichthys ocellatus is found along the Pa- 

 cific coast in the bays and inlets. These fish live on sea-urchins 

 and sand-dollars, for which food their dentition is well adapted. 

 They are very vicious, and when taken into a boat will snap 

 their jaws very much like a dog or wolf, so they are well named 

 wolf-fish. They are eel-shaped, and are sometimes called wolf- 

 eels. The following is the description of this fish in Jordan 

 and Evermann (Anarrhichthys ocellatus Ayres, wolf-eel) : 



"Head 11, depth 15 D.CCL; A. 233; P. 19. Body elongate, 

 formed as in an eel; the head and jaws very strong. Pectorals 

 broad, more than one-half head ; longest spine, dorsal, one-half 

 head. Color dark greenish, the body and dorsal fin everywhere 

 covered with round, ocellated black spots of various sizes, the 

 light markings forming reticulations around the spots; head 

 paler, with reticulations of a finer pattern; anal pale edged. 

 Length, 5 to 8 feet. Pacific coast, from Monterey Bay north to 

 Puget Sound. It feeds chiefly on sea-urchins and sand-dollars, 

 (Ocellatus, with eye-like spots.)" 



{Anarrhichthys ocellatus Ayres, Proc. Cal. Ac. Nat. Sci., 1855, 31, 

 San Francisco; Jordan and Gilbert, Synopsis, 1893, 782; Jordan and 

 Starkes, Fishes Puget Sound, 1895, 848.) 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE SKULL. 



A side view of the skull is shown in plate XXV, figure 1. 

 From this some idea may be obtained of the great strength of 

 the jaws, with their dentition. The front part of the jaws is 



