520 Bulletin 4y, United Stales National Museum. 



h. Ventral fins inserted in front of the middle of dorsal; mouth large. 



c Scales very small, arranged in tho male in villous bands; teeth feeble; pectoral fins 

 broad, of To to 20 rays; jiyloric ca'ca G. Mallotus, 239. 



re. Scales large, similar in both sexes; pectoral fin moderate, its rays 10 to 12. 

 d. Teeth feeble, those on tongue very weak; scales small, adherent. 



TilALEICHTHYS, 240. 



di\. Teeth strong, those on tongue enlarged, canine-like; scales moderate, loosely 



attached. Osmehus, 241. 



fcb. A'entral fina inserted under or behind middle of dorsal; mouth rather small; scales 



large. 



c. Jaws with minute teeth; similar teeth on tongue and palate; maxillary reaching 



past front of eye. Hypomesus, 242. 



ee. Jaws toothless or very nearly so; vomer and palatines with small teeth; mouth 



small, the maxillary not reaching past front of eye. 



/. Tongue with a curved row of small teeth on each side; scales smooth or more 



or less spinescent. Argentina, 243. 



ff. Tongue toothless; scales thin, caducous, probably not spiniferous; pyloric circa 



about 9. Leuroglossus, 244. 



239. MALLOTUS, Cuvier. 



(Capelins.) 



MallotHs, Cuvier, Regne Anim., Ed. 2, 11, 305, 182'J, (riUosiis). 



Body elongate, compressed, covered with minute scales, a band of which, 

 above the lateral line and along each side of the belly, are enlarged, and 

 in mature males they become elongate-lanceolate, densely imbricated, 

 with free, projecting points, forming villous bands. In very old males 

 the scales of the back and belly are similarly modified, and the top of 

 the head and the rays of the paired fins are finely granulated. Mouth 

 rather large, the maxillary thin, extending to below the middle of the 

 large eye. Teeth minute, forming single series on the jaws, vomer, pala- 

 tines, and pterygoids ; lingual teeth somewhat enlarged, in an elliptical 

 patch. Lower jaw projecting. Branchiostegals 8 to 10. Dorsal inserted 

 over ventrals ; lower fins very large; pectoral fins large, horizontal, 

 with very broad base, their rays in Increased number (16 to 20). Pseudo- 

 branchife quite small. Gill rakers long, slender. Pyloric cceca 6, small. 

 Ova very small. Marine species of the North Atlantic and Pacific, some- 

 times ascending streams. (/uaATiUTor, villous.) 



789. MALLOTUS VILLOSUS (Miiller). 



(GaPELIN ; LoDDE.) 



Head 4i ; depth about 6; eye large, 3^. D. 12; A. 18; scales about 

 150. Head long, pointed. Base of anal in males compressed and prom- 

 inent, its anterior rays simple and stifi"; pectorals reaching more than 

 halfway to ventrals, the latter to anal. Mature males with a band of 

 elongate scales along lateral line and along each side uf belly ; in very old 

 examples the scales of back and middle of belly project beyond the skin ; 

 skin of head and rays of paired fins finely granulated. Dusky olivaceous 

 above, grayish silvery on sides and below ; opercles silvery, dotted. Arc- 

 tic America, south to Cape Cod and Alaska ; abundant northward, on both 

 coasts, and in Kamchatka. A delicious little fish much valued in the far 

 north. The eggs of the Capelin deposited iu sand along Arctic shores 



