AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT OF THIS PAPER ISSUED 

 BY THE BIBLIOGRAPHIC SERVICE, NOVEMBER 18 



OSTEOLOGY OF THE GRUNTFISH, RHAMPHOCOTTUS 



RICHARDSONIi 



SYDNEY E. JOHNSON 



Departinenl of Anatomy, Northwestern University Medical School 



TWENTY FIGURES 



CONTENTS 



I. Introduction 461 



II. Observations -. 463 



A. Description of the species 463 



B. The integument 464 



C. The skeletal system 464 



1 . The cranium 464 



2. Suborbital ring 467 



3. Suspensorium, mandibles, and opercular apparatus 467 



4. Hyoidean apparatus 470 



5. Branchial arches 470 



6. Shoulder and pelvic girdles 471 



7. Vertebral column 473 



III. Discussion 475 



Bibliography ' 478 



Plates 479 



I. INTRODUCTION 



Rhamphocottus richardsoDi is a beautiful little fish of Cottoid 

 affinity inhabiting the waters of the eastern north Pacific from 

 Monterey to Sitka. The species is rather abundant in Puget 

 Sound, and a large number of specimens have been takan by the 

 Puget Sound Biological Station dredge. Local shruiip dredgers, 

 to whom the species is known as gruntfish or horsefish, also 

 report getting a considerable number in their nets. 



In habits Rhamphocottus is similar to the Cottidae. A rocky 

 bottom, in shallow water, is the usual abode. Jordan and Ever- 

 mann (Fishes of North and Middle America) give the range of 



' The observations and the drawings for this paper were made in the Zoological 

 Laboratory of the University of Washington. 



461 



THE JOURNAL OP MORPHOLOOY, VOL. 31, NO. 3 



