coTriiiDs. 



lyi 



COTTUS LII.L-IK];(7UG1I. 

 (Fig. 55.) 



Top of the heiuJ furnished u-'iih s/iives hinI riihicK, 01/1/ iok//]/ icith jirotiiJicranccs. Four preopercidar spines, the 

 length of the uppermost beinrj scareelij r/reater than, tlir lonf/itiidinal diameter of the eye, hut extending usually as 

 far hack as the point of the opercular spine. Lateral line stralyld. and, like the sides of the body, especlalbj 

 aboce the lateral line, armed a-lfh spines. The lenyth (f the ma.rdlary bones., which Is greater than that of the 

 ventral fns and more than 80 % of that of the base o,f the amd fn, rarles befrveen about 55 and 65 %, and the 

 length of the loirer jaw beta-een about (!.'> and 75 %, of the length of the base of the second dors(d fn. Least 

 depth of the iall more than 5^L % of the length of the body, and rarylng between about S5 and 45 % of the 

 base of the anal fn. Margins of the branchiostegal membranes united to, and separated by, the isthmus", hernial 

 papllUe on the upper margin of the eye, and dermal filaments on the hind part of the maxillary bones. Itays in 

 the second dorsal Ji)i af mast 1:>, in the anal fin s or '.), in the ventrcd fins H. 



Fig. 55. Vottns LiUjeborgii, 9. from Bclinslaii. Magii. 2 tliam. 



R. br. 5 1. (5; D. 8 11 L 12; .1. S 1. 0; /'. 15 1. 16; V. > .,; 

 C. .r + 7+,r; L. hit. 25 ad .30 1. ?,l. 



Si/ii. Cottus LiUjeborgii, Coll., Vid. Selsk. Forli. Clirist., 1874, Til- 

 L-egsh. p. 25; Ltkn, Vid. Meddel. Natiirh. For. Kbhvn, 1876, 

 p. 376; Coll., 1. c, 1879, No. 1, p. 13; Lillj., &>., JVor^. 

 Fislc., vol. I, p. 158; Malm, Gbgs Naturh. Mus. Arsskr. 1881, 

 p. 21; Coll., N. Mag. Natnrv. Christ., Bd.29, H. 1, p. 54. 



It" the Fathev-Lasher, iu relation to the Sea Scor- 

 pion, can be called the Dwarf Cottus (drcrgslmpa), this 

 name may be applied with .still greater propriety to 

 Lilljeborg's Cottus, the length of which, according to 

 LuTKEN, is known to rise as high as 54 mm. in the 

 Fai-oe Islands, but in Scandinavia- has never exceeded 

 47 mm. lu relation to the preceding species, liowever, 

 it occupies, in most respects, a place corresponding to 

 the highest degree of development of the former, tliough 

 it retains the above-mentioned spines on the sides of 

 the body, especially above the lateral line, wdiich in 

 the Father-Lasher are a character of the larval stage. 

 The other character which most distinguishes Lillje- 

 borg's Cottus, consists in a shortening of the occipital 

 ridges (the posterior part of tlie ridges on tlie top of 



the liead), which thus end in their posterior, spinous 

 point at a greater distance from the beginning of the 

 first dorsal tin. Though tlie separation between the two 

 dorsal tins is more distinct tlian is generallv tlie case in 

 the preceding species, still ^ve can apparently find no 

 constant difference in this respect. On the other hand, 

 the great difference in the length of the maxillaiy bones'', 

 especially in comparison with the length of the ventral 

 tins, should afford a definite character easy of em]iloA- 

 ment. The spinous armour of the body displays a strik- 

 ing similarity to that of Centridcrmichthys hamafus, but 

 is still closer, especially above the lateral line, and ex- 

 tends as far l)ack as the end of the .second dorsal tin. 

 C)ne row of these spines, more developed than the others, 

 coasts the bases of both dorsal tins, just as in the spe- 

 cies referred to. Below the lateral line too, there are 

 numerous spinous scales on the anterior part of the 

 sides, but on the posterior part they are thinly scattered. 

 The bellv is smooth or tinely granulated. These spinous 

 scales' are simple spines, erected in a backward di- 

 rection, just liku those of the lateral line'. 



" Soraetimes, however, willi a ilistinet trace of a dermal fold straight across the isthmus. 



' Even Collett remarked tliat in Cotli/f: LiUjeborgii the gape is relatively larger and broader than in C. bubalis. 



'•■ "Granular points'", M.\L)l; "bony protuberances", Lilljkboro. 



'' Cf. the above description (p. ISO, note r) of the armour of the lateral line in a specimen of Cottus bubalis from Waideguba. 



