46 THE DISCOBOLI. 



more important of the distinguishing features may be summarized as 

 follows : head short, broad, rounded ; snout short, blunt ; mouth anterior ; 

 lips distinct ; teeth small, numerous, in a cardiform band, tricuspid on 

 intermaxillaries and dentary, simple on pharyngeals ; eyes lateral, small 

 to medium ; nostrils, two on each side, with short projecting tubes ; 

 olfactory nerve short ; brain elongate ; glossohyal rudimentary or absent ; 

 gills three double and one single ; gill rakers with denticles ; pseudo- 

 branchiae present ; gill opening small, above the pectoral ; branchiostegal 

 rays six ; branchial membranes not free ; tubes and pores of the lateral 

 system forward of the gill aperture ; dorsal and anal elongate, more or 

 less closely imited with the caudal, with some anterior rays unsegmented ; 

 pectorals broad, procurrent under the throat; ventrals transformed into 

 an adhesive disk, situated below the gills between the pectorals ; skin 

 thin, loosely attached, smooth, excepting a sexual outgrowth on males 

 in breeding season ; stomach siphonal ; pyloric cseca numerous ; intestine 

 elongate ; urinary bladder large, simple ; kidneys long, fused a portion 

 of their length ; liver large, with partial divisions into lobes ; gall bladder 

 small, rounded ; skeleton not heavily ossified, less in deep-sea forms ; 

 upper limb of preoperculum expanded backward ; operculum small ; sub- 

 operculum narrow ; interoperculum elongate, styliform ; third suborbital 

 produced backward, in a long, slender process, to the hinder edge of the 

 preoperculum. 



The species of Liparis inhabit the colder waters of the North and of 

 the South of both Atlantic and Pacific, ranging to great depths. Among 

 those frequenting the shores, if not also the others, vegetation seems to 

 form a portion of the food. The contents of the stomachs are miscella- 

 neous lots of small marine animals (crustacea, worms, mollusks, small 

 fishes, etc.), mixed with which are quantities of sea-weeds. Some varia- 

 tion exists in regard to feeding habits among the different species. The 

 teeth of some show no signs of wear from hard food, but in L. mucosus 

 they are ground off and blunted, no doubt by contact with the hard- 

 shelled Crustacea and hard-scaled agonoid fishes, remains of which are 

 found in the stomachs. Very likely L. pulchellus turns his peculiar snout 

 to account by rooting in the mud or sand among the plants, or in turn- 

 ing over the pebbles. Certain species are fitted for a life in beds of 

 sea-weed, others are probably more abundant in rocky places. 



By structural differences the genus may be divided into two sub- 



