THE SHOULDER GIRDLE AND CHARACTERISTIC OSTE- 

 OLOGY OF THE HEMIBRANCHIATE FISHES. 



B}' Edwin Chapin Starks, 



Of the Liiand Stanford Junioi- UnirerKitL/. 



M}' investigations of the group of Hemibranchiate fishes were under- 

 taken primarily with a view of ascertaining the character of the inter- 

 clavicles and making a comparative study of the shoulder girdle. So 

 many important characters appeared, however, in other parts of the 

 skeleton, and so many errors were found in current descriptions, that 

 the scope of the paper has been somewhat broadened. 



I haye tried to describe in detail the posterior bones of the cranium 

 in order to show the relationship of the post-temporal, which in many 

 species is coosified with the cranium, and to identify the ditferent 

 skeletal elements, as the parietals are usually missing. 



The famil}' Gasterosteidiv in the following descriptions is repre- 

 sented by Gnsterosteus eataphradm Pallas, from Japan. Specimens 

 of EucaJia, Apeltesiiwd. Pygosteas were also examined. Sjj>machk(, the 

 only other genus, was not at hand. 



The family Aulorh^-nchidte is represented by Aulorhf/zichusjlavidus 

 Gill, from Puget Sound. Aidichtkys jdponicus, from Japan, was 

 referred to. These are the onh^ genera of the family. 



The family Aulostomidje is represented by Aulostomus valenUni 

 Lacepede, from the Hawaiian Islands. This is the only genus of the 

 family. 



The family Fistulariidje is represented by FidaJarhi j>(:tiinl)a Lace- 

 pede, from Japan. The only genus of its family. 



The family Macrorhamphosidfe is represented by Ifacrorhamphosus 

 sagifne Jordan and Starks (new species), from flapan. The only other 

 genus of the family is Centriscojjs^ which was not seen. 



The family Centriscid^ is represented by ^-EoJlscus drigatus (Giin- 

 ther), from Japan. Ceniriscus, the only other genus of the family 

 (and closely related to uEoliscus), was also skeletonized and examined. 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXV-No. 1 301 . 



tn9 



