166 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM [1885. 



or very slightly rouncled. The longest ray of the anal is about equal 

 to the length of the head without the snout, and exceeds the length of 

 the longest dorsal ray. The anal spines are subequal in length, the 

 second one being nearly one-half as long as the head. The pectoral is 

 nearly as long as the head, slightly longer than the distance of its tip 

 from the origin of the anal ; its length is contained about 4f times in the 

 total length to end of scales. The ventral equals the pectoral in length, 

 and extends farther back. D. XV, 14 : A. II, 11 ; Sc. 14-8G (tubes)— 24. 

 A narrow, light area along base of spinous dorsal, above which the fin 

 is dark. Snout and iris very dark and humeral region and the region 

 through which the lateral line passes with a dark pseudo stripe some- 

 what intensified at both ends, and almost forming bands on the body. 

 The greatest width of this dark stripe somewhat exceeds the length of 

 the eye. Base and upper half of pectoral orange. Traces of orange on 

 cheeks and nape. The whole of lower portion of body largely orange. 

 Ventrals, and all but the basal portion of the anal, dark ; the ventrals 

 with a bluish tinge. A pearly blotch on the lower portion of the pec- 

 toral. Soft dorsal and caudal more or less suffused with orange. 



ON THE IDENTITY OF COTTUS MACULATUS, FISCHER, WITH 

 COTTUS BUBALIS. EUPHRASEN. 



By TARI.ET01V H. BEAIV, 



Curator of the Department of Fishes. 



In a recent extract from the annals of the Scientific Association of 

 Hamburg,* Dr. J. G. Fischer has described and figured a species of 

 Cottus from Barbadoes. The anomaly of finding a species of this genus 

 within the tropics induced me to examine the description very carefully, 

 to ascertain, if possible, the source of Dr. Fischer's specimen. There is 

 no reasonable doubt that the type of his new species is the common Fa- 

 therlasher of Europe, and it is a source of wonder that the species 

 should have been misinterpreted. After a study of our examples of 

 Cottus hithalis from Bergen and Christiania, in Korway, and Leeds, En- 

 gland, I have no hesitation in stating that they agr-ee perfectly w^ith the 

 description and figure of Cottus maculatus. 



In some unknown way the locality of Dr. Fischer's specimen has been 

 incorrectly given, and thus the describer of the supposed new species 

 has been completely misled. 



The differential characters claimed by Dr. Fischer for Cottus macula- 

 tus do not serve at all to separate his species from C. buhalis. The ar- 

 rangement and number of the spines on the preoperculum are precisely 

 the same in our examples of Cottus buhalis as represented in the figure 



*JahrI)ucli cler wisseuschaftlicheu Anstalten zu Hamburg, ii, pp. 78, 79, taf. ii, 



fig. 8. 



