1936] Schults: Keys to Fishes 179 



31b. Palatine teeth present and strong. 



41a. Soft dorsal rays 20 to 23 (seldom 19) ; caudal ver- 

 tebrae 25 to 29 (usually 25 or 26) ; preopercular 

 spine at angle less than l / 2 diameter of eye; lateral 

 line complete ; caudal peduncle of the round con- 

 stricted type, little if any compressed ; anal rays 16 

 to 19 ; body and head usually with prickles. Range : 

 Coastal streams from Alaska to Ventura County, 

 California. Freshwater and in brackish water. 

 Abundant. 

 Prickly Bullhead 253. Cottits aspcr Richardson 



41b. Soft dorsal rays 14 to 20; caudal vertebrae 20 to 23. 



42a. Preopercular spine at angle long and slender, its 

 length contained from l / 2 to 2 /z in the diameter of 

 the eye ; lateral line complete ; pelvic fin rays com- 

 monly I, 3 and I, 4; anal rays 11 to 14 (usually 

 12) ; body and head usually with prickles ; dorsal 

 rays VII to VIII, 15 to 17 (usually 16) ; anus 

 behind middle of body ; caudal peduncle only mod- 

 erately compressed ; width of mouth about l /i 

 length of head, rather large as in rhothens. Range : 

 Rattlesnake Creek near Camp Harney, Oregon. 

 Freshwater. Common. 

 254. Cottus bendirei (Bean) 



42b. Preopercular spine at angle shorter and heavier, 

 and less than l /i diameter of the eye; pelvic fin 

 rays I, 4, rarely I, 3. 



43a. Lateral line complete, occasionally 2 or 3 pores 

 absent on caudal peduncle ; no definite black spot 

 in the spinous dorsal ; mouth large ; anal rays 

 12 to 14; caudal peduncle round and slender; 

 posterior nostril slightly elevated and slightly 

 tubular. Range : Puget Sound drainage, Colum- 

 bia River, and Kootenay River, British Colum- 

 bia. Freshwater. Common. 

 Bullhead. .. .255. Cottus rhotheus (Rosa Smith) 



43b. Lateral line incomplete, ending under soft dor- 

 sal; anal rays 11 to 13 (usually 12) ; usually a 

 black spot in the spinous dorsal ; caudal peduncle 

 of the moderately compressed type and about 

 equal to the diameter of eye ; dorsal VII to 

 VIII, 16 to 18. Range: Headwaters of the Co- 

 lumbia and Missouri Rivers and the Green River 

 of the Colorado system. Freshwater. Common. 



Rocky Mountain Bullhead 256. Cottus 



punctulatus (Gill) [=C semiscaber (Cope)] 



30b. Head strongly armed, the preopercular spine not simple, 

 but with 2 spines or more, or else the skin is loose and 

 lax and nearly obscures the spinous dorsal except the 

 tips of the spines. 



