CAVE FISHES OF NORTH AMERICA. 



381 



Pyloric caeca. — In the keys and descriptions in Jordan and Ever- 

 mann's Fishes of North and Middle America, the number of p^yloric 

 c(Bca is taken as one of the characters on which is based tlie division 

 of the Amhlyojjsidse, into genera. I have examined specimens of all 

 of the North American species of this family and get results quite 

 different from those recorded by the above authors and others who 

 have written on the systematic characters of this group. The least 

 number of pyloric coeca found in any specimen was 1 and the highest 4. 



Cut 1. — Alimentary canal of Chologaster 

 cornutus. pe, pyloric cojca; s, stomach; 

 V, vent. 



Cut 2. — Alimentary canal of Cholo- 

 gaster papilliferus. 



Four specimens of Chologaster cornutus Agassiz were examined and 

 in ever^' case the number of pyloric coeca was 4. (Cut 1 shows the 

 intestine and pyloric coeca of C. cornutus: ,v, the stomach; ;;»(?, the 

 pyloric coeca; and t', the vent.) Chologaster pajjilliferus Forbes (cut 

 2), also has 4 coecal appendages. In previous descriptions of this spe- 

 cies but 2 coeca are noted. The four specimens of the rare Chologaster 

 agassizii Putnam that were examined had 4 p^doric coeca each (cut 3). 

 Nine specimens of Typhllchthys suhterraneus Girard Avere examined, 5 



Cl't 3. — Alimentary canal of 

 Chologaster agassizii. 



Cut 4. 



-Alimentary <^anal of TyphUcliihijs 

 suhterraneus. 



from Mammoth Cave and 4 from Mitchells Cave, Kentuck}-. Seven 

 of these had 2 distinct pyloric coeca each. Cut 4 shows a ventral 

 view of the intestine of T. suhterraneus and cut 5 a side view of 

 another specimen of the same species with the gall-sac in position, 

 the liver having been removed. In the other two specimens only 1 

 pyloric coecum could be found in each, but the specimens were poorly 

 preserved and possibly the second appendage had disintegrated. The 

 coecal appendages in Amblyopsls spelseus De Kay were found to vary 



