298 ACANTHOCLINID^. 



Six branchiostegals ; the gill-membranes united below the throat ; 

 four gills ; pseudobranchise. Air-bladder none. Pyloric appendages 

 none ; intestines short. 



Carnivorous fishes, from the coasts of New Zealand. 



1. Acanthoclinus littoreus. 



Blennius littoreus, Forst. Descr. Anim. ed. Licht. p. 127. 



qiiadridact^lus, Bl. Schn. p. 177. 



Clinus littoreus, Cuv. i^ Val. xi. p. 389. 



Acanthoclinus fuscus, Jen. Zool. Beagle, Fishes, p. 92. pi. 18. fig. 2. 



B. 6. D. f . A. ^". V. 1/3. 



Eeddish-brown, brown, or blackish ; a dark-brown spot on the 

 operculum. Immature specimens with two oblique blackish streaks 

 from the eye to the operculum, and with whitish dots on the body. 

 A lateral line along the base of the dorsal fin, another along the 

 middle of the body, a third from below the pectoral along the base of 

 the- anal ; a fourth pair along the middle of the beUy. 



Coasts of New Zealand. 



rt. A great number of adult, half- grown, and young specimens. Bay 



of Islands. 

 b. Adult male: skeleton. New Zealand. From Dr. Sinclair's 



Collection. 



Forster's description agrees so well with this species, that we can 

 scarcely doubt that, owing to some inadvertence, he has given the 

 numbers of the fin-rays incorrectly ; and this is the more probable 

 as in his original figure the number of the dorsal and anal spines is 

 nearly coi-rect. He has figured a young individual, in which the 

 lateral stripes of the head are visible. 



Stomach elongate, without caecal portion ; pyloric appendages none ; 

 intestine short, ynih. an upper and lower curve. The Uver is situated 

 on the right side of the stomach; the gall-bladder is elongate, situated 

 behind the liver, towards the extremity of the abdomen. Air-bladder 

 absent. 



SJceleton. — The skeleton does not show any peculiarity. The bones 

 are well ossified. SkuU rather compressed; crown of the head 

 smooth, convex, with a small crest posteriorly; interorbital space 

 verj' narrow ; infraorbital bones well developed, forming a ring, 

 which is nearly of the same width throughout ; intermaxillary much 

 shorter than the maxillary, with the posterior processes of moderate 

 length ; maxillary very dUated posteriorly ; praeoperculum roimded, 

 both its limbs having the same length ; operculum regularly tri- 

 angular. Pubic bones narrow, rather elongate, firmly united, with- 

 out interspace between them. Twelve abdominal and eighteen 

 caudal vertebrae, the length of the former portion of the vertebral 

 column being to that of the latter as 1 : 1-26. Haemal, neural, inter- 

 ha^mal and intcrneural spines, and the ribs of moderate strength and 

 length. 



