Lf.MI' SUCKI'IK. 



295 



dm. dec]) (tliii'k) wt'i^lis iicarl\' a l<,i;riii., the i'(i<' fonii- 

 iii^- (i8() ^I'lii. n[' tliis wciight. In sli;i|ic llic I.iiin|) 

 Slicker is (iiic of <ini' most siii^'ulnr lislics, liciiiLi' l)nlky 

 ;iii<l polvgoiinl, iis the Swedish mime sliows, tor liy 

 sjitryiifi (Sovcii-biiok) is only meant lliut it has seven 

 longitudinal ridges, marked 1)\- huge, spinous plates, 

 on the body, wliieh is sciileless, hut I'ougli with small 

 s])in(>s. One of these I'idges runs in the form of a 

 cartiliiffiuous hump alonu' the dorsal line heliind ihc^ 



an( 



1 general 



invests the whole of the lirst dorsal 

 fm. being double between the latter and the second 

 dorsal lin. Another ridge runs on each side of the 

 bod\- from the upper anterior corner of the eye, be- 

 tween the pt)sterior nostril and the latter, and then 

 advances over the eye, being fairly straight or some- 

 what cur\ed above the pectoral fins, and situated at 

 the bottom of the upper third of the body or a little 

 higher, out along the tail to the base of the caudal 

 tin. Anothei- ridge runs fairh' parallel to the latter. 

 It begins just behind the gill-opening, about lialf-waA' 



undergoes even relative increase with age. It is usu- 

 all\ givater in the uuile than in the female, and varies 

 between 8 and 10 ?«; of the lengtli of the body. The 

 head is fairh' large, generall}' more so in the males, 

 but its i-elative length decreases with age, varying in 

 full-grown specimens between 2()' j and 28 % of that 

 of the body. The cheeks fall perpendicularly from the 

 broad and flat forehead — the breadth of the inter- 

 orbital space at the middle of the eyes, in full-gro\\n 

 specimens, varies between about (iO and 70 ?6 (r)8'3 — 

 71 "o) of the length of the head. The abruptly rounded 

 snout is shoi't, but its breadth renders it large: its 

 point is occupied by the mouth, which is turned some- 

 what upwards, and the breadth of which — generally 

 Sreater in the male than in the female — varies be- 

 tween about 55 and 05 % of the length of the head. 

 Both jaws, with their thick lips jiroject eipialh far for- 

 ward, when th<- mouth is closed, but when the latter 

 is o])en, the lower jaw proves to be slightly the longer. 

 The jaw-teeth are small and jiointed. in Miunger spe- 



between its upper corner and the upper angle of the 1 cimens forming two or three rows in front only, and 



pectoral tin, and advances on tlie abdominal region, 

 along the middle of the side, but on the caudal resjion 



set in a sim])le row behind; but in old specimens set 

 in cards which grows gradually narrower t)ehind. anrl 



at about the toj) of the lower third of the tail. The I are broader (contain more rows) in the upi)erjawtha 



lowest ridge runs on each side of the belly itself, which 

 during youth, after tlie formation of this ridge, is flat 



in" the lower. The thick tongue and the palate are tooth- 

 less; but the pharyngeal bones. l)oth abo\ e and below, are 



or even concave between the latter and its correspondent \ set with oblong cards of teeth. The nostrils are double, 



on the other side of the body — as if this part of the both pairs being sometimes raised in a tubular shape, but 



bell\- were a contiiuiation of the ventral disk — until this is the case, as a rule, only with the anterior pair, 



it becomes rounded when the organs of generation I'each j which are the larger, and lie on a level with the middle 



maturity. This lower ridge is generally continued, after ' of the eyes, the distance between them and the latter 



a short interruption, by a row of small protuberances ' being about equal to the diameter of the eye (some- 



along the base of the anal tin; and a similar row of j what less in young specimens). The eyes ai-e laterally 



protuberances — or even two — generally appears 

 along the base of the second dorsal fin. A row of two 

 or three osseous tui)ercles generallv runs back along 

 the branchiostegal mendjraue. below the cheek, from 

 the end of the lowei- jaw. The depth of the bod\ varies 

 considerabK' with the growth of the dorsal hump and 

 the greater or less tumidity of the belly; in old males 

 it may often rise to about 45 % of the length of the 



set and mobile"; they are situated high up, below the 

 margin of the forehead and just in front of the middle 

 of the head, in fu]l-gro\vn specimens generally measur- 

 ing from about 17 to 'li % of the leuirth of the latter 

 — in old specimens from greater depths this proportion 

 may rise to 25 %. and in young specimens the eyes 

 are, as usual, larger. In young specimens between 24 

 and 28 mm. lono; we have found them to measure as 



body, and in gravid females to more than half the much as 3(5 Vo and 31 % of the length of the head, 



latter. This is also true, though in a less degree, of The; gill-opening begins superiorly on a level with the 



the greatest thickness of the body (across the belly). superior margin of the eye, and ends below, in front of 



which in old specimens varies between about 25 atid ' the base of the |>ectoral fins, on about a level with the 



27 % of the length of the body. The least depth of mouth. Below this point the thick branchiostegal mem- 



the bodj' too, just in front of the caudal fin, generally brine hangs like a dermal fold straight across the throat. 



" "Je ne connais aucun poisson qui toiirne ses yeiix brillants avec taut de promptitude": AsCANICS. 



