FISHES OF PUGET SOUND. 825 



dorsal ray 2; highest anal ray J ; 4 ; length of caudal fin 



Body elongate, subcylindrical, deepest and broadest at 

 shoulders; belly prominent; dorsal outline straight from 

 first dorsal spine to caudal fin, curved up anteriorly to 

 occiput. Head very irregular, much broken by large 

 spines; mouth interior, rather broad, maxillary reaching 

 to the vertical from front of orbit: lips thin, not broken 

 up in papillae; upper jaw protractile; teeth small, in villi- 

 form bands on jaws, vomer and palatines; the anterior 

 edge of premaxillary is directly under the base of rostral 

 spines; a few very small blunt papilliae behind chin; a 

 barbel at end of maxillary, not half so long as diameter of 

 pupil. 



A pair of sharp rostral spines pointing forward and 

 upward; behind these is a pair of curved spines pointing 

 upward, outward and backward; no median spine or 

 movable spine at tip of snout; between these and be- 

 hind the rostral spines is an almost circular pit, which is 

 entirely occupied by the upper end of the premaxillary 

 process; interorbital wide and concave, a slight median 

 ridge running from the rostral pit to a point above pupil, 

 on each side of which is an outward curved ridge ending 

 in a minute spine; over each eye is the largest spine on 

 the head or body, the large triangular orbital spine, its 

 base occupying nearly the whole space above eye ; it is 

 sharp, compressed and strongly hooked back; on the an- 

 terior part of its base is a small, sharp, preorbital spine, 

 pointing upward ; a series of minute spines running medi- 

 ally along the top of the head and body from a point be- 

 tween the orbital spines to the first dorsal spine; on each 

 side of these are two large blunt spines, with the traces of a 

 smaller one between them, they are continuous with the 

 dorsal keels of body; farther down and continuous with 



