Number 84 May 5, 1920 



OCCASIONAL PAPERS OF THE MUSEUM OF 

 ZOOLOGY 



UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 



Ann Arbor, Michigan Published by the University 



OBSERVATIONS UPON THE HABITS OF 

 ASCAPHUS TRUE! STEJNEGER 



By Helen Thompson Gaige 



Our knowledge of the American representative of the Dis- 

 coglossidae, Ascaphus truei Stejneger, is limited. Since its descrip- 

 tion by Stejneger in 1897 {Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., Vol. XXI, No. 

 1 1 78) but five additional specimens have been recorded. The 

 genotype, evidently a female, was captured at Humptulips, 

 Chehalis County, Washington. In 191 2, Van Denburgh, in his 

 "Notes on Ascaphus" {Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., Ill, 259-64), reported 

 the finding by Slevin of three males on Mount Ranier, Pierce County, 

 Washington, at an elevation of 6,000 feet, and mentioned a fourth 

 specimen, which had been destroyed, also taken on Mount Ranier 

 at 4,861 feet. Van Denburgh's paper includes an excellent account 

 of the skeleton and external appearance of the hitherto undescribed 

 male, and apparently the only notes' upon the habits of the species. 



' Slevin found his specimens about the edge of a pool two or three feet deep 

 in a small, slow-flowing stream. They jumped into the pool when disturbed 

 and then dropped to the bottom where they remained motionless. They died 

 a few hours after their capture, although they were kept in a well-ventilated can. 



