650 ^ NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Cyclopierus Imnpus Linkaeus, Syst. Nat. ed. X, I, 260, 1758; Gunther, 

 Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus. Ill, 155, 1861; Goode & Bean, Bull. Essex Inst. 

 XI, 11, 1879; JOBDAN & Gilbert, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. Mus. 747, 1883; 

 Bean, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. IX, 370, 1897; H. M. Smith, Bull. 

 U. S. F. C. 1897, 105, 1898; Jordan & Evermann, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. 

 Mus. II, 2096, 1898, pi. CCCXIII, fig. 757, 1900. 



Body massive, compressed, subtriangular in transverse sec- 

 tion through the middle, belly flattened, the portion behind the 

 abdominal chamber much compressed, and lees than one half the 

 length of the body proper; greatest depth of body one half or 

 more than one half of total length including cau(|al. Caudal 

 peduncle short, its least depth one third length of head. Head 

 short, subquadrangular in transverse section, forehead broad, 

 flattened; length of head one fourth of total length w^ith caudal. 

 Nape high. Snout short, broad, blunt, one fourth as long as the 

 head. Mouth wide, terminal, oblique, the maxillary reaching to 

 below the front margin of the orbit. Eye lateral, placed high, as 

 long as the snout, and one third as wide as interorbital space. 

 Nostrils small, the hinder smaller, near the eyes on interorbital 

 space, the anterior farther forward, halfway to the mouth, 

 with a short tube. Gill opening moderately wide, about three 

 fifths length of head, its lower third in front of base of pectoral. 

 Fins with rounded margins, rough, with small tubercles. First 

 dorsal distinct in very young individuals, variable in shape, 

 thick and fleshy, with weak rays in older stages; second dorsal 

 always distinct, broad, rounded, its origin two and one half 

 times as far from tip of snout as from base of middle caudal 

 rays, its longest ray one half as long as head. Caudal broad, 

 subtruncate or rounded behind, its middle rays one half as long 

 as the head. Anal exactly opposite the dorsal and about equal 

 in size. Pectoral broad, rounded, fringed, not indented at the 

 sides of the disk, its length one sixth of the total without caudal. 

 Disk little longer than wide, about as wide, or nearly three 

 fourths as long, as the head. Skin thickly covered with small, 

 irregular subconical tubercles, the sides of which are roughened 

 with small, conical protuberances. On older individuals, larger, 

 longitudinally compressed tubercles form a vertical series from 

 the nape over the first dorsal; a series of three tubercles at 



