RYPTICUS MACULATUS. 41 



they have each one spine and five soft rays. The anal is very short, though as 

 much elevated as the dorsal, with which it is coterminal behind ; it has fifteen 

 rays, but no spine. The caudal is broad and rounded behind, with sixteen rays. 



The scales are minute, and are deeply embedded in the epidermis, and are at all 

 times covered with a thick mucous secretion. The lateral line is arched, and ele- 

 vated opposite the dorsal spines, but it gradually descends to the median plane. 



Colour. The head above, as well as the upper half of the body, is olive-brown, 

 with several whitish spots above the median plane ; the lower jaw and belly are 

 pale drab colour ; the pectoral fin is dusky at its root, and reddish-brown at its 

 margin ; the ventral is pale reddish-brown before, and white behind ; the roots of 

 the dorsal and of the anal fins are olive-brown, and the external half of each is 

 olive-colour ; the caudal is olive-brown. 



Dimensions. The entire length, from the spine of the opercle to the tip of the 

 caudal, is equal to three heads and a quarter ; the greatest elevation, without the 

 dorsal fin, is one head and one third ; total length, eight inches. 



Splanchnology. The liver is very large, compressed, and appears as one mass at first sight, since 

 the marks of separation into lobes can be seen from above only, where the left lobe sends a small 

 lobule upwards and forwards ; the right lobe is about half as long as the left, and terminates behind 

 in two lobules, while the left ends in a point. The gall-bladder is slender and rather long. The 

 stomach is large and long, as it extends three fourths the length of the abdomen, and is pointed 

 behind ; its walls are very thick, and there are strong longitudinal folds on its inner surface ; the 

 pyloric portion is small, slender, short, and has thinner walls ; the intestine runs to the vent, and is 

 then reflected nearly to the diaphragm, whence it returns to end in the rectum, which is very short, 

 and has a remarkable rectal valve ; there are four small coecal appendages. The air-bladder is 

 very large, extending the whole length of the abdomen ; it is sub-conical in form, the base is ante- 

 rior and rounded, and the apex behind and pointed ; its walls are thin. 



Habits. Nothing is known of the habits of the Rypticus maculatus. 

 6 



