1078 Bulletin //, United States National Jlfuseutn. 



spine. Occipital crests long, gently converging behind, suddenly diverging 

 near their posterior ends. Distance from STipraorbital to occipital tubercle 

 li times the distance between the 2 supraorbital tubercles (the 2 measure- 

 ments about equal in M. polyacaniliocepliahts) ; 2 or 3 low digitate ridges 

 behind supraocular spine; a sharp ethmoidal ridge extends backward 

 from level of small spines to above front of pupil ; mouth very large, the 

 maxillary extending to posterior border of eye; the pore always present 

 behind last gill arch; spinous dorsal low, the interval between dorsals 

 unusually long; fins moderate; pectoral barely reaching anal; ventrals 

 not to vent. Color olive grayish, mottled with darker, paler than in 

 related species ; back with 4 dark cross bands, made up of blackish spots ; 

 lower side of head and belly plain white; membrane of upper jaw 

 unspotted; fins, all except the ventrals, with oblique dark bars, fainter 

 than in most species. In the adult, the dark cross bands break up 

 into sharply defined black spots, with vermiculating blotches and lines 

 which closely cover the back. Length 12 to 18 inches. Bering Sea, in 

 shallow water; everywhere common on both coasts, extending into the 

 Arctic and south to the Amur Eiver and Uualaska. Our specimens from 

 Unalaska, Bristol Bay, Petropanlski, Robbcn Reef, Port Clarence, and 

 Grantley Harbor; one of the most characteristic fishes of Bering Sea. 

 {jaok, the vernacular name in Kamchatka.) 



Cottvs jaoh* CuviER & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 172, 1829, Kamchatka (Coll. 



Pallas; specimen in Mu8. Berl. called Cottus scorpius hy Vaia.as} ; Gunther, Cat., n. 



165, I860; Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 705, 1883. 

 Myoxocephalvs jaok, Jordan & Gilbert, 1 Kept. Fur Seal Invest. 1898. 



* Oo«M.s ?ao^- is thus described : "D VII,15: A. 14. M. Lichenstein has kindly confided 

 to us the individual which -served Pallas for the description of tlie great Cottus of Kam- 

 cli;itk:i, wliicli lie bclio.vfd the same si)ecii's as mii- scoriiliis. \Vc liave compared it care- 

 full,\ with <Mir in(li\i(iuals from Europe .-iihI \m- liini- IoimhI that it has, in fact, several 

 cliaiactc-rs, milalih, tliat the spines of it.s jutnprn 1.- aic siiiiilarly disposed and of the 

 sanio propoi lions, but its ditferences are many. lnsl( ad >>i' liilicn-les it has behind the 

 eye, behind the cranium, and on the temple, some li-lil t;raiiiilatii>n8. Along its back, 

 above the lateral line, is a row of scales quite unlike ilin>c oi ,s,-.,rj>iiis. They are round, 

 a little concave; their surface is rough, and their e(li;f siii Kuiiiilcd with small slender 

 iioiiiis, but above the lateral line there are some like tliose ol s,;,ij,ius. The first dorsal 

 is b.u( r shnrlc r, and I iiave been able to find but 7 rays. Pallas counted but 6. Its size 

 is niiH h "ic aier tliau tbat of the Sculpins in Europe. Tlu' indiviilual before us is 21 

 inelies Inui;. Pallas mentions them of 2 feet. He thus gives tlio coloration: Back red- 

 dish, witir'scattered brown spots, small, irregular, disajiiieaiini; by dej;ree8 below the 

 lateral line; bell v white; 5 brown, irregular transverse bands on the pectoral ; sjiinous 

 dorsal spotted with brown : soft dorsal with 4 vertical brow n bands, caudal witli 3; 3 

 bands on tlieanal. The lish is very active, in life. Pallas w .is told that it would live for 

 2 days out of water: e\ eu after bein;j; e\isrer.iled and brinL; in the smoke to dry, it would 

 wave forseveral hours. It is e.-illed ii\- the Kami-, h.id.ihs ,/</.-/, . hy the Koriakes, iZarti; 

 by the Kouriles, ,Si,.si,ilkl and Kcisclni:! ( '). I he I; u,s -i.ni> ol Kanuduitka call it /tomsc/irt, 

 and the Lamutes, 2VU7c/ji. ((Javier ^V \aliniiennes.) ' 



tConcerningthesynonymy of this speeies. . Ionian A (iilbert observe: In a report on 

 theichthyologicalconcctionsof the.:l/;'-(On».s in Alaska (Kej.ort U. S. Commissioner of 

 Fish aud'Fisheries for 1893, p. 421), Dr. (iilheit writes as follows: "A. Immihs closely re- 

 sembles the deseription of .1 . jaok, with which it mav wc 11 be identical. We do not ven- 

 ture to make this ideiitilieatio'n, aaA.jaok is sanl to have but 7 dorsal spines, a number 

 we have not found in .1 Ini iniliii." On further consiileration we have decided that the 2 

 must be id(ntical. The tvpo of jaok ^Vi\s a large dried specimen, the same which had 

 served Pallas for his account of Cottus scorpius.' In such a dried specimen it would be 

 very difficult to enumerate correctly the h)w feeble spines, of which the first 2 are very 

 closely approximated, and the last 1 often minute and liidden in the membrane. Humilis 

 is abundant along the coast of Kamchatka and agrees with the account of jaok in having 

 the upper parts covered with small brown spots, the back with a series of round spinous 

 plates, and the sides below the lateralline with jiostcriotly din-ited spines; italso agrees 

 in reaching a very large size. In the descrii)tion of j</')A- the fin formula, except the 

 number of dorsal spines, is that most freijuently found in humilis. Specimens are before 



