PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 279 



■whatever of tliis liabit of the catfisli. If the observation is new, and it 

 deserves to be placed on record, you are at liberty to vise this in any 

 way you may deem proper. 

 Very respectfully, 



ii^. T. LUPTOK 



ON THE OCCttJBKEIVt'E OB' STICH^US PUIVCTATUS, (FABR.) KROYEB. 



AT 8T. ]TflflCHAEl.'S, AILASKA. 



By TARJLETON H. BEAN. 



A single specimen of the species above named was collected June 29, 

 1874, at St. Michael's, Alaska, by I\Ir. Lucien M. Turner, who sent it to 

 the United States ]Srational Musemn. The species is now apparently for 

 the first time recorded from the coast of Northwestern North America. 

 The total length of the specimen is 145 millimetres (o|^ inches). It has 

 been compared with an individual of the same species from Greenland 

 (probably from the Danish Colonies, as it was presented to the Museum 

 by the Danish Academy), and another from Halifax, Nova Scotia, where 

 it was taken September 4, 1877, by the United States Fish Commission, 

 at the mouth of the harbor, in 20 fathoms of water. In order to show 

 at a glance how the St. Michael's specimen differs fi'om the other two, 

 the proportions of the different parts of the bodj' of all the specimens to 

 the total length without caudal are exhibited in tabular form. The 

 average proportions of the three individuals are given in another table, 

 and they may serve as a basis of a description of the species. From this 

 average the si^ecimen from St. Michael's differs in the following par- 

 ticulars: 



1. The maxillary is longer. , 



2. The mandible is longer. 



3. The pectoral is longer. 



4. The ventral is inserted somewhat nearer the snout. 



In the number of anal rays, the Alaska specimen is intermediate be- 

 tween the other two. The differences indicated fall Avithin the limits of 

 individual variation, and in the absence of suflBcient material it is not 

 practicable to separate tlic St. Michael's example from the other two, 

 even as a variety. 



SticJucus pnnctatus is recorded from tlie coast of Greenland (Danish 

 Colonies?), Newfoundland, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and St. Michael's, 

 Alaska. 



