252 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



The mouth is moderate; the maxilla reaches to below the middle of the 

 eye, and its leugth is oue-half of the greatest height of the body. The 

 eye is large, its greatest diameter being contained four times in the leugth 

 of the head. The iuterorbital area is narrow, deeply concave; its greatest 

 width is one- third of the diameter of the eye. The nasal spines are 

 small. The upper preopercular spine has 3 small spinous processes; 

 its greatest length is about two-thirds of the diameter of the eye. In 

 the male example from Godhavn there is a patch of 8 or 9 rough plates 

 between the occipital ridges. These are entirely wanting in the two 

 male examples from Holsteinburg Harbor, while in the female the top 

 of the head, the nape, and the upper parts of the opercles are thickly 

 covered with these plates. Another noticeable difference between the 

 sexes is in the height of the dorsal fins and in the length of the ventrals. 

 The dorsal fin in the male is comparatively much higher than in the 

 female, the longest dorsal spine in the former being as long as the 

 head, while in the latter it is only three-fifths of the length of the 

 head. The ventral in the male reaches beyond the origin of the anal 

 fin, its length being one-third of the total length to the base of the 

 caudal fin, while in the female the ventral does not reach the vent, its 

 length being one-fourth of the total length to caudal base. The pectoral 

 fin is about as long as the head, and the middle pectoral rays are papil- 

 lose on their inner edges. The ventral rays are exserted. The color 

 is dark brown above. The thoracic region is dusky, with irregular 

 large yellow spots. On the side of the tail is a series of four or five 

 white spots smaller than the eye. The chin is banded with yellow and 

 brown. The spinous dorsal is black, with two rows of white spots on 

 the basal half of the fin. The soft dorsal is black, with five or six broad 

 oblique white bands. Pectoral yellowish, with four or five transverse 

 series of black spots. Ventrals spotted with black and white ; caudal 

 fin dusky; anal colorless. 



D. XII, 15-lG ; A. 17-18 ; P. 19 ; T. I, 3 ; Pyloric coeca 6. 



Icelus hamatus Kroyer. 



Icelus hamatus Kroyer, Nat. Tidsskr., I, 1844, p. 253, and Poissons du 

 Nord, Voy. en Scan, et Lap., pi. I, fig .2, a-g ; GItnther, Cat. Fish, Brit. 

 Mu8., II, 1862, p. 172; Collett, Den norske Nordh.-Exped., Fieke, 1880, 

 p. 34, pi. I, fig. 8. 



A fine example, 6 inches long, of this species. No. 28630 in the Na- 

 tional Museum collection, was obtained in Davis Straits by Mr. N. P. 

 Scudder. Owing to the scarcity of this species in collections and the 

 good condition of the example under consideration I have thought it 

 best to give a full description. 



The bddy is fusiform, with the abdominal outline nearly straight ; 

 the greatest height of the body at the origin of the spinous dorsal fin 

 is one-fourth of the total length to the caudal base. The caudal pe- 

 duncle is slender, the least height of the tail being only one-fifth of the 

 greatest height of the body. The head is large and naked, its length 

 being contained 2| times in the total length to caudal base. The nu- 



