fiOo 



the 7tli or Mil (<icilli in tlie aiitorinr i-nw. In ihc lower 

 jaw the form ot' tlic teeth is tlie same, .-ukI tlie\- 

 are set in almost the same miinner; lint the ]iosterior 

 row is somewhat hniLiCi- and ends onl\' a little sooner 

 lliaii the anterior row. There arc no teeth on the pa- 

 late or the tonsi'iie, which is Hut, rounded, and llesliy, 

 hut scarcely free at all. 'Ihc palatal folds within the 

 jaws are wcll-de\( loped, lint not at all deep. In the 

 phar\nx we find aliox'e on ea<'h side tliive small, traiis- 

 \-erscl\-set pharyngeals, .set with slioii, conical teeth in 

 more or less curved rows, con\ ex in fi'ont, the middle 

 pair of phai'vnc-cals \\illi two rows of teeth, the anterior" 

 and the posterior pair.s with only one. The lower pha- 

 r\iig'eals are longer, pointed at both ends, and furnished 

 witii three longitudinal rows of short and lilunt teeth. 

 Tlie gill-rakei's are scattered — 16 on each of the first 

 pail' of liranchial arches — and resemble short, pointed 

 liajiilla', each with a small, sharp, osseous spine within 

 it. The bi'anchiostegal membrane is united underneath 

 to the corresponding membrane on the other side, but 

 coalesces entirely with the skin of the isthmus (the 

 breast), leaving no free margin behind, though the 

 margin may be distinguished. The gill-openings extend 

 <lownward somewhat beyond the lower end of the in- 

 sertions of the pectoral fins and are separated from it 

 by a distance about e(|ual to the length of tlic snout; 

 whiji' above thev reach over a part of the up|)er margin 

 of the operculum, the skin of which is jirolonged behind 

 into a blunt point. The eves are comparatively small, 

 rather jiromineiit, and set in front of the middle of the 

 head and high up, the distance between them being 

 about equal to the breadth of either vye. Thej' lie in 

 planes that con\erge somewhat in a forward and upward 

 direction. Th(> nostrils, one on each side, are set as in 

 the Sea-eat at about the middle of the length of the 

 snout, and resemble fairly high, flexible, dermal tubes 

 with even margin. The eye is surrounded as usual by 

 a ring of muciferous pores, belonging to the cephalic 

 .system of the lateral line. One of these pores, the 

 second in the frontorostral branch of this system of 

 du<-ts, has been regarded as a posterior nostril. Tlie 

 first pore of this branch lies just in front of the nostril. 



'^riic bod\- jiroper (the trunk) is c\lindrical, with 

 ]ieiident belly, espccialh' in gravid females. The Eel- 

 like tail, which ends in a point, is strongh- compressed 

 laterally. During life the fish is coated with a thick 

 layer of miicns, pai'tly concealing the thin, scattered 

 scales, which lie depressed in the skin without touching 

 each other. These scales are almost circular oi- oblong, 

 and smooth-margined, with line, concentric stria?, in 

 the outer part dense, in tiic inner part (nearer the 

 inicleus) scattered, and groo\es radiating in all direc- 

 tions. The lateral line is not verj' distinct. The head 

 is scaleless. 



The vent lies just in front of the beginning of the 

 anal fin, a little in front of the middle of the body 

 (cf. the above table), and further forward in young 

 specimens, as in the American form, than in old. Be- 

 hind it is furnished with a papilla, most distinct in 

 the males, similar to that we have above remarked in 

 the Cottoids. 



The dorsal fin is ]o\v, begins just behind the occi- 

 put (cf. the above table), and extends, inqierceptibly 

 diminishing in height, back to the extreme end of the 

 tail; but a little in front of this point it shows a more 

 or less broad depression or incision, which is sujijiorted 

 by spinous rays, an extremely singular variation of the 

 other soft rays, and characteristic of this genus. The 

 number of these spinous rays varies between 6 and lO*. 

 In front of the depression the dorsal fin contains aljout 

 ISO ra^s, all weak and articulated, and all, with the 

 exception of the first rays, branched at the tip. These 

 rays are united by a fairh- thick, slimy skin, which 

 is strewn at the base of the fin with scales similar to 

 those which clothe the bodj\ These scales extend 

 liigher up in the posterior part of the fin than in the 

 anterior. The anal fin is of exactly the same structure, 

 form, and extent in a backward direction as the dorsal; 

 but is without any incision, coalescing completely and 

 without the least break with the caudal fin. At the 

 base the anal fin is strewn with scales in the same 

 maimer as the dorsal. From 70 to 80 rays may be 

 counted with tolerable ease; but behind these the re- 

 maining rays lie so close to each other that their num- 



Through both these pores a fine liair may be passed ber can hardly be fi.xed w'ith certainty. 



into the duct beneath the skin, far back and above the 



The pectoral fins are fairly' large — their length 



eyes. The lower jaw is also coasted by a row of si- ' from the upper angle of the fin varying between 11 

 milar and distinct pores. 



and 13 % of that of the bod \ 



nd broad, with rounde(l 



" EkstrSm and FniES liave seen two rows of teetli on tlie anterior pair as well. 

 ' In the .American Eiirh eh/opus anguilhris tlieir number may rise to at least 16 



