ABT. 13 REVISION OF THE COTTOID FISHES SCHMIDT O 



ARTEDIELLUS MIACANTHUS Gilbert and Burke (1912) 



Artediellus miaca'fithus Gilbert and Bttrke, Bull. Bur. Fish., vol. 30, 1910, 



(1912) p. 47, fig. 7. 

 Artediellus aporosus Soldatov, Ann. Mus. Zool. St. Petersbourg, vol. 23, 1920, 



pp. 323-324. 

 D. VII-VIII, 12-14; A. 11-12; P. 20-24; L. lot. 17-24. 



This species can be easily distinguished from all other Pacific 

 forms by the smooth and losely attached skin, absence of the nasal 

 spines, small number of in the lateral line and small number of pores 

 on the top of the head. It is well described by American authors. 



In our large collection, containing 47 specimens, the variation of 

 the number of the pores is as follows : 



Pores 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 



Specimens 4 5 13 11 6 2 



The variation in the number of the pectoral rays is as follows : 



Rays 20 21 22 23 24 



Specimens 2 4 17 17 7 



Prof. V. K. Soldatov (Moscow) has described as a new species, 

 Artediellus aporosus, a form nearly allied to A. miacanthus, but 

 differing by the presence of " very small nasal spines wholly con- 

 cealed beneath integument," in the absence of pores on the top of the 

 head and in the smaller number of pectoral rays. But all these 

 peculiarities are in my opinion insufficient for separating this form 

 as a new species. 



The nasal spines are completely concealed in the skin and not at 

 all developed as spines; only by removing the skin can one detect 

 sometimes blunt bony tubercles on the nasal bones, and the develop- 

 ment of these tubercles varies. 



The absence of pores on the top of the head is not especially men- 

 tioned by Gilbert and Burke, but the precision with which they de- 

 scribe " three pores in a cross series immediately behind the orbits, 

 the middle one sometimes a little advanced " convince me that they 

 have observed no additional pores on the top of the head. 



The variation in the number of the pectoral rays given by V. K. 

 Soldatov for A. aporosus is also the same as for A. miacanthus: 



Rays 19 21 22 23 



Specimens 115 2 



Therefore after minute investigation of the specimens of A. 

 aporosus I can not recognize this form as a separate species. 



Geographical distHhution — A. miacanthus is confined exclusively 

 to the Okhotsk Sea and especially to its northern part. It was found 

 in the Penshinskaya and in the Tauiskaya Guba and extends south 

 to 50° 3' N. 



48224 — 27 2 



