NO. 1303. JAPANESE OPHIDTOID FISHES— JORDAN AND FOWT.ER. 747 



tip of the snout than the eye; lips very broad and flesh}^; month large, 

 the niaxillarv a little be3'ond the eye; teeth short, conical, rounded 

 above, and in a single series in the upper, and in two series in the 

 lower jaw in front; tongue very broad, thick, rounded, and little 

 free in front. Gill openings large, the isthmus broad, and the gill- 

 membranes joined to it. 



Head, pectorals, region around ventrals, dorsal and anal anteriorly, 

 naked; scales of body very small, round, numerous, and cycloid; 

 small scales upon the basal portions of the dorsal and anal posteriorly. 



Dorsal beginning before the gill-opening, highest anteriorly, also 

 higher than the anal, continuous with the caudal and anal, and with a 

 small lower spinous portion, the origin of which is distant from the 

 tip of the caudal about the length of the head; caudal small and 

 pointed; pectoral broad, and the lower rays thick and fleshy; ventrals 

 jugular, their insertion directly behind the margin of the preopercu- 

 lum, and their length a trifle greater than the eye. Lateral line obsolete 

 after the middle of the bod3^ 



Color in alcohol dark brown; edge of dorsal blackish brown, and the 

 flu and ])ack with al)out 18 deep-brown A-^^haped marks, below which, 

 on the sides, are a series of deep-brown blotches; a narrow streak 

 from the eye backward; scales rather pale. 



Length 12^ inches (31 millimeters). 



The specimen from which the above description is taken was 

 obtained at Iwani, in Shiribeshi, Hokkaido. 



A specimen from Hakodate, in the nmseum at Hakodate, has 105 

 dorsal rays, the spinous part short; bod}- with about 21 dark cross- 

 bands, A'shaped, and each with a spot below; pectorals nearl}^ as long- 

 as head; ventrals very short; mouth large, extending to middle of eye. 



In a specimen from Sagalin Island, presented by the Imperial 

 Museum of Japan, the dorsal has 87-VI-28 rays and spines. 



In our smallest example, from Tishima, Hokkaido, the spinous fin 

 is very long, of XIV spines, farther from the tip of the tail than the 

 length of the head, about the fifth, sixth, and seventh dorsal rays 

 above, a deep-brown round spot; scales small; length -tf inches (121 

 millimeters). 



In spite of the variation exhibited in these specimens, they do not 

 appear to us to ]ustify specific distinction. 



{elongatus; elongate.) 



3. LYCENCHELYS Gill. 



Lycenchelys GiLh, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1884, p. 110 {mursena). 



This genus contains small and very slender species, diflering from 

 Lycodes in the elongation of the body, the depth being from K) to 20 

 times in the length. The lateral line is single and median in all 

 known species. The genus is very close to Lycodes^ but the position 



