68 BULLETIN 150, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Dorsal 34-35; anal 29; pectoral 32-33; disk a little more than 2 in 

 the head. 



Body heavy, short. Head heavy, blunt, depth equal to or greater 

 than the width. Cheeks nearly vertical; occiput high. Mouth 

 broad, with little lateral cleft. Teeth strongly tri-lobed, arranged in 

 about 12 oblique rows in the half of each jaw. Snout bluntly 

 rounded; lower jaw included. Eye small, silvery. Gill slit small, 

 extending down in front of one to three pectoral rays. Anterior 

 nostril in a short tube. Coeca 10-13, in a single row about the gut. 



Dorsal usually with a shallow notch setting off the first five rays. 

 Dissection of the fin will show that in most of the specimens the 

 fifth and sixth rays are slightly shortened. Sometimes they appear 

 to be of the same length as the preceding rays. In none of our speci- 

 mens do the rays increase regularly in length. Caudal truncate, of 

 12 rays, connected for a little more than, or about one-fifth its length 

 to the dorsal. Pectoral notched; the lower lobe reaching nearly to the 

 vent. Disk more than 2 in head. Vent separated from the disk by 

 the diameter of the latter. 



Color. — Slaty to brownish; the fins speclded to mottled or barred 

 with brown. Peritoneum silvery, with few or no dots. A few of the 

 specimens have pale stripes along the top and sides of the head. 



Synopsis. — Dorsal 34-35; anal 29; pectoral 32-33; pyloric coeca 

 10-13, typically less than 20. Disk more than 2 in the head. Gill 

 slit extending down in front of from one to three pectoral rays. Dorsal 

 fin appearing to be unnotched, but upon dissection the fifth and sixth 

 rays will usually be found to be slightly shortened. Caudal connected 

 for a little more than, or about, one-fifth its length to the dorsal fin. 

 Prickles absent. Color variable; many color varieties described; 

 our specimens slaty to brownish; the fins speckled, mottled, or barred 

 with brown; some of the specimens with pale stripes on head and 

 body. 



Remarks. — Many color varieties of this species have been described. 

 This species and in fact all the species of Europe need a thorough 

 revision based upon a large series of specimens. It is likely that 

 other species have been confused with L. liparis. 



Ehrenbaum (1905) records the spawning season from November to 

 February, Smith (1897) records this species as common in winter 

 and full of spawn in December and January. (In the discussion of 

 L. atlanticus I have intimated that the specimens from the New 

 England coast recorded as L. liparis will doubtless be found to be 

 that of another species.) 



Franz (1910) records two specimens of Liparis liparis from Japan. 

 Franz has the following to say about these specimens : 



Dorsal 32; anal 26. Nach vergleichung meiner Exemplare mit solchen von 

 Helzoland kann ich keine spezifischen Untersheide den letzteren gegeniiber 



