84O CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



bands, eye small, longer than wide, set high in head; in- 

 terorbital space narrow, about as wide as eye. Body 

 covered with very small cycloid scales, impossible to 

 count. Spinous dorsal well separated from soft dorsal, 

 the spines slender; soft dorsal the higher, its origin a lit- 

 tle nearer base of caudal fin than tip of snout; anal about 

 equal to soft dorsal in height, its origin a little behind 

 first dorsal ray, nearly coterminous with soft dorsal; ven- 

 trals inserted slightly behind pectorals, reaching midway 

 between their base and front of anal; caudal short, its 

 end rounded. 



Color light olivaceous, the cheeks and sides with many 

 dark points which form mottlings; snout dark; a dark 

 spot on upper part of opercle; top of head black; dorsals 

 pale, with three or four dark lines running across the rays; 

 some dark spots on base of anal; pectorals crossed with 

 dark wavy lines ; caudal with about five irregular cross- 

 bars. 



Two specimens obtained, each 2 inches in length. 



Family BATRACHID^. 

 107. Porichthys notatus Girard. 



Very common in shallow water. It attaches its eggs 

 to the rocks just above low-tide mark, and watches them 

 till they hatch and the young are quite well matured. 

 The young fasten themselves to the rocks by means of 

 a ventral disk, which soon disappears. It makes a pecu- 

 liar grunting noise when disturbed. It reaches a length 

 of over a foot. Several specimens taken. 



Apparently the type of Porichthys margaritatus Rich- 

 ardson was the tropical species since described as Porich- 

 thys nautofcedium. The name margaritatus should not be 

 used for the northern form. 



