FISHES 105 



Family Gadidae. — The codfishes. Body elongate; scales cycloid; 

 mouth large, terminal; pyloric ca^ca numerous: 140 species, in northern 

 seas; i species in fresh water. 



Lota Cuvier. Body long and low, depressed in front, compressed 

 behind; anterior nostrils each with a short barbel; chin with a long 

 barbel; 2 dorsal fins, the first short, the second very long; caudal fin 

 rounded: i species. 



L. maculosa (LeSueur). Burbot; lawyer; ling. Length 250 mm.; 

 head 4.5; depth 6; color dark olive marbled with blackish; rays of 

 dorsal tins 13-76; anal 68: lakes and sluggish streams, from New England 

 to the upper Missouri; northward to the Arctic and Bering Strait; 

 southward to the Ohio; common towards the north. 



Order 13. Heterostomata. — The flat-fish. Bones of the head 

 unsymmetrical, both eyes being on the same side; anus near the head; 

 pseudobranchiae present; dorsal fin extending the length of the body; 

 anal fin similar but shorter; body much compressed, the side without an 

 eye being usually colorless and kept lowermost; young individuals 

 symmetrical: 2 families, all marine, one species in fresh water. 



Family Soleidae. — The soles. Body oval in outline; cranium much 

 twisted, the mouth very small; teeth rudimentary or wanting: 150 

 species. 



Achirus Lacepede. Eyes and color on right side; scales well devel- 

 oped, ctenoid; eyes separated by a bony ridge; pectoral fins minute or 

 wanting: numerous species. 



A. fasciatus Lac. Length 200 mm.; head 4; depth 1.8; color dusky 

 olive, mottled with 8 dark, narrow, vertical stripes; rays of dorsal fin 

 50 to 55; anal 37 to 46; scales 66 to 75; origin of dorsal fin at tip of 

 snout: Cape Ann to Texas, ascending rivers; common. 



Order 14. Acanthopteri. — The spiny-rayed fishes. Anterior 

 vertebrae unmodified and without Weberian ossicles; ventral fins usually 

 more or less anterior in position, being either thoracic or jugular, and 

 possessing normally i spine and 5 soft rays; anterior rays of dorsal and 

 also of anal fins spinous; scales typically ctenoid; margin of mouth 

 formed by the premaxillaries alone; air bladder typically without 

 pneumatic duct in the adult: over 40 families, mostly of marine fishes; 

 about 7 families (in the United States) include fresh water fishes. 



Key to the Fresh Water Families 



ai Ventral fins abdominal in position i. AtherinidcB. 



a.2 Ventral fins thoracic or jugular in position. 



bi Lateral line wanting 2. ElassomidtE. 



