340 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHEEIES 



Color. — Described as olivaceous to brownish. 



General range. — Arctic and northern parts of the Atlantic Ocean south occa- 

 sionally to the Gulf of Maine. 



Occurrence in the Gulf of Maine. — Occasional specimens of this northern fish 

 have been reported from Eastport, from off Cape Ann, and from Massachusetts Bay. 



THE SEA SNAILS. FAMILY LIPARIDID^ 



The sea snails are curious tadpole-shaped, soft-bodied little fishes, and, like 



the lumpfish, have a sucking disk on the chest supported by the vestigial rays 



of the ventral fins, but the skin is smooth and without tubercles and the spiny 



and soft dorsal fins are continuous as a single fin. The Gulf of Maine supports 



two species. 



KEY TO GULF OF MAINE SEA SNAILS 



1. Spiny (front) and soft (rear) portions of the dorsal fiu are separated by a notch 



Sea snail, p. 340 



There is no separation between the spiny and soft portions of the dorsal 



Striped sea snail, p. 342 



129. Sea snail (Neoliparis atlanticus Jordan and Evermann) 

 Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 2107. 



Description. — Perhaps the most noticeable character of this and of the striped 

 sea snail (p. 342) is that due to the cylindrical fore part of the trunk, together with 

 the broad rounded snout and fat soft belly, and the abrupt compression of the 

 body close behind the vent, it is shaped more like a tadpole than like the conventional 

 fish. It is also provided with a sucking disk similar to that of the lumpfish (p. 335). 

 In side view the body is deepest abreast the pectoral fin (about four times as long 

 as deep, without caudal), tapering evenly to a moderate caudal peduncle. The 

 head is rather flat above, the mouth terminal and moderately wide, and the jaws 

 are armed with many small teeth arranged in bands. The dorsal fin originates 

 close behind the pectoral and runs continuously to the base of the caudal though 

 separate from the latter. The most apparent difference between this species and 

 the striped sea snail is that in the former the spiny portion of the dorsal (6 spines 

 hardly stiff er than the soft rays) is demarked from the much longer soft part (25 rays) 

 by a notch, whereas in the latter there is no such separation. The dorsal spines 

 are longer in males than in females and project further beyond the membrane, giving 

 the fin a fringed appearance. The anal fin (23 to 27 rays) originates under or slightly 

 behind the soft portion of the dorsal, to which it corresponds in size and outline. 

 The pectorals are not only very large and fanlike, but their bases run forward under 

 the throat, where they expand into secondary lobes or wings with fringed edges. 

 The ventrals appear only as a circle of low knobs in the center of the sucking disk, 

 which is situated on the throat between the pectorals. The skin is scaleless, and 

 is smooth except at spawning time, when the male is rough with small prickles. 



Color. — Described as olive to reddish brown with lighter and darker cloudings 

 and dots, the dorsal and anal fins often with crossbars. But not only do its tints 

 vary widely, but also its markings and the strength of coloration, whether pale 

 or dark, as is the case with so many bottom fishes. 



