ICHTHYOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS OF THE ALBATROSS. 423 



The principal features of this species are the very broad, flat head, the short, wide 

 snout, the projecting lower jaw, the two pairs of cephalic tubercles provided with 

 filaments, the verrucose head, tho very short preopercular spines, the large pore 

 behind the last gill, the presence of circular spinous plates above the lateral lino 

 and prickles below it. 



Head and anterior part of body broad, depressed, the depth of head at occiput 

 1| in its greatest width, its length 2J in body. Body tapering to a slender caudal 

 peduncle, whose least height is equal to diameter of eye. Depth of body 4 to 4f in 

 length. Interorbital space very wide, shallowly concave, its width If times diameter 

 of orbit, and 4 to 4^ in head. The low supraocular ridge ends in a blunt tubercle 

 above hinder margin of eye, which grows higher with age. Occiput depressed, 

 bounded by two low ridges which converge very strongly toward the nape, where 

 they curve out again in low, rounded tubercles. The inclosed depressed area is 

 twice as wide anteriorlj'^ as it is at the narrowest posterior part. A strong temporal 

 ridge, less distinct in young specimens. Nasal spines very small. Mouth wide, 

 transverse, oblique, the maxillary reaching vertical from hinder edge of pupil, 2^ in 

 head. Mandible with its triangular tip protruding well beyond upper jaw in adults, 

 the jaws nearly equal in young. Length of snout equal to interorbital width. 

 Bands of short cardiform teeth on the jaws, and a broad patch on vomer; none on 

 palatines. A conspicuous pore behind last gill. Gill-membranes almost wholly 

 joined to the isthmus, the free border scarcely noticeable, its width less than one-third 

 the diameter of the small pupil. Eye small, shorter than snout, 5^ to 6^ in head. Pre- 

 opercle with two short strong spines diverging backward, and a strong concealed 

 point below directed downward and forward. Upper preopercular spine about equal 

 to eye, but little longer than the lower, reaching one-third the distance from its base 

 to the tip of the opercular flap. Opercle with a Avell-marked longitudinal rib, ending 

 in a sharp point. Scapular and subopercular spines j)resent. Entire top and sides 

 of head, nape, and anterior dorsal region covered with small dermal warts. Supra- 

 orbital and occipital tubercles with short filaments. 



Space above the lateral line with an irregular series or double series of large round 

 spinous tubercles. A few scattered plates on sides below the lateral line. Axil 

 smooth. Plates of lateral line concealed in skin. 



Spinous dorsal low, its longest spine 1^ in second dorsal, 3 in head. In some speci- 

 mens a single line of small sharp tubercles, resembling sjiines, extends along each 

 side of the rays of the second dorsal. The two dorsals are separated by a narrow 

 space. Pectorals large, reaching front of anal, the lower rays much thickened. 

 Caudal rounded. Ventrals reaching two-thirds distance to vent. Dorsal ix-14; 

 anal 13; pectoral 18; ventral i, 3; lateral line 36-40. Length 6-11 inches. 



Color: Dark olive-brown above, with faint traces of blackish bars; sides spotted 

 or marbled with whitish. Belly, and lower parts generally, white. A blackish 

 blotch on cheeks, one on opercle, and a third on front of mandible. Pectoral rays 

 dusky, the membrane whitish, the fins crossed by three or four wavy black bars, 

 which sometimes join, inclosing oblong or roundish white areas. Spinous dorsal not 

 banded, the dusky and translucent areas variously arranged. Soft dorsal, with 

 five oblique broad dusky bars. Anal with four bars, sometimes uniting to inclose 

 white spots. Caudal similar to pectoral and anal. Brilliantly colored males are 

 largely black on sides and below, with many large, rounded, partially-confluent, 

 pearly-white spots. 



Thirteen specimens from the Nushagak River, near its mouth; one from Herendeen 

 Bay, on the northern side of the Alaskan Peninsula. 



65. Acanthocottus profundorum sp. nov. (Plate 27.) 



A deep-sea form, allied to A. bathi/bitia Giinther, from which it differs in the 

 obsolescence of the occipital and nasal spines, tlie absence of the accessory spine 

 in advance of upper preopercular spine, and in the more numerous rays of dorsal 

 and anal fins. From above, the head appears smooth and evenly rounded, without 



