(•v(i,<ii"iKi;ii).i-;. 



■lH?y 



Gem.s cyclogaster. 



licnhi tddpolc-like, more or /cnn jidlitfcd tairards the /((inhil Jin. (iiid ((iicrcd iril/t a slinii/ (iiid loose slchi, irliicli is 

 inikrd or (in old specimens) sometimes roi(f/li iritli scollcrcd, snuill plolcs, a ml lliic/.ii/. Imt looseli/, carers tlw <ni- 

 terior port oiol the hose of flic loii(/, ciiiifiinioiis, dorsal Jin. mid also of flic onol Jin. I'seitdohravchice tvantivff 



or riidiinciifiiri/. Vcrtcliro' more tlian 40. 



Obf. liuXUKl.KT" borrowcti from I'l.lNV Ur- naiiu' of /^ijiiiri.t'' 

 for a lisli wliicli probably did iiol belong to this genus, and Wll.- 

 lumiiiY' was the lirst clearly to describe a species belonging to this 

 genus under (hat name, with the addition of the English name of 

 Sea-snail, which is still in use. Neither Ahtkdi'' nor LlNX/iils ■■ knew 

 this fish fi'oni his own observations: and as LlNN^US did not recog- 

 nise Liparis as a distinct genus, and Autedi gave no diagnosis there- 

 of, this genus, according to the laws of nonicnclature, must now 

 bear the name of Cyclogaster. which it received of Gronovius', who 

 was the first author to give a scientific description and determination 

 of the genus. He states that in Belgium it is called Ringhiii/k. In 

 Sweden, according to Koi.thokf'', it is called Sugfifk (Sucking-fish); 

 but neither Eksthom nor Malm give any name used by the fisbcrnien 

 of Bohusliin. Nilsson employed tlic name of Lump/sk, Mai.m that 

 <'f 'Siigiire (Sucker). Kucykk translated Ui/cloga.<<ter. and called the 

 genus Riugbiig. 



The sliiiiv tiiid, in most case.s, eiitii-ely nuked .skin 

 is o\\\\ luoseh- attached to the body by a subjacent 

 hl^■er of loose, connective tissue; and the variability 

 thus caii.^ed in tiie exteninl shape of the body, as well 

 as the conse(|iient ditiicidtv of preserving the fisii in a 

 perfect state, and lastlv the large number of colour- 

 varieties \\hicii we tind among the young specimens, 

 have rendered the determination of the species within 

 this genus no easy task. However, if we compare all 

 the species described, we easily" find that they compose 

 a distinct, continuous series of forms, starting from 

 those which approach nearest to the juvenile stages of 

 the following genus, and acquiring a greater and great- 

 er number of rays in the dor.sal and anal fins, until 

 these fins imperceptibl_y coalesce with the caudal fin, 

 while the body simultaneously becomes more and more 

 elongated and pointed towards the tail. The adhesive 



ventral <lisk also nio\cs farther and farther forward, 

 and is reduced in size, suggesting a continuation of 

 this change, and tinallv disappears'', tiie family thus 

 gaining a (l((ipti\c likeness to certain forms of the 

 Cnttidrc and f/pliidiidre. As this series of forms is re- 

 |)resented in the changes of growth of individual forms, 

 we also regard it as the expression of a true develop- 

 mental series, even though it be of a retrograde cha- 

 ractei'. The different .stages of this dcxelopment may, 

 in different localities or at different ages, show a greater 

 or less degree of constancv; but transitions involve an 

 incon.stancy of character. GC nihkk s o]jinion of tiie oidv 

 known sjjecimen of J'liridiparis mcmhronaceus may thus 

 apph- to still more of the species described: "It is im- 

 certain whether this specimen represents a species in 

 Avliich certain embryonic chai-acters are persistent, or 

 merely an early stage of development of some other 

 species". In the Scandinavian fauna we follow the 

 example of Collett, Lilljeb()R(; and Lltkex, and 

 distinguish between the three foUoAving species only: 

 A : Kay.s of tho doisiil lin more than 



50, of tlic anal fiu more than 40. 



Vent situated in the lirs-t quarter 



of the length of the body. Length 



of the adhesive disk equal to or 



slishtlv o;reater than the diameter 



of the eve Cyclogaster gelatinosus. 



B: Eavs of the dorsal fin less than 



,oO, of the anal fin less than 4(1. 



A'ent situated behind the first 



quarter of the length of the body. 



Length of the adhesive disk twice 



the diameter of the eve: 



" De Pise. lib. IX, cap. VIII. 



' From XlTtttQOg, sleek. Descriptio ad euni dignoscendum non raultum valet: 1!ay. 



•■ Hist. Pise. .\pp.. p. 17. 



'' Synon., p. 117. 



' Sysl. Nat., ed. XII, tom. I, p. 414, Uycloptenis liparis. 



■' .^fus. h-hth.. torn. II, p. 0: Zoopliyl., fasc. J, p. 55: Cat. Fish. Gron.. Brit. Mus., ed. Gray, p. 39. 



" In LiLUEBORG, 1. c. 



'' In the genus Paroliparis, a deep-sea foriii, found at a depth of from 300 to 600 fathoms in the Atlantic, from Bear Island down 

 to Cape Vincent. See Coli.ktt, Norsk. Nordh. Exped. 1876—78, Zool.. Fiske, p. 53 (Paraliparis bathybii); Brown-Goode, Proc. U. S. Nat. 

 Mns. 1880, p. 477 (Amilra liparina); Jordan and Gii-bert, Hyn. Fish. X. Amer., Bull. I". S. Nat. Mus., No. 16, p. 739: Gthr, Voy. Chall., 

 vol. XXII, Re/i. Deep Sea Fish., p. 68. 



