THE FISHES OF ALASKA. 



311 



133. Myoxocephalus jaok (Cuvier i Valenciennes). 



Two specimens, 11 and il.o inche.'j, respectively, collected at Tareinski Harbor, Kamchatka, June 21, 

 1901. The following description is taken from the larger example: 



Head 2.5 in length; depth 6.2; eye 6.5 in head; snout 3.75; maxillarj' 2.1; mandible 2.1; inter- 

 orbital equal to eye; dorsal viii, 15; anal 14; pectoral 18; caudal with 9 forked rays; ventral i, .3; lateral 

 line about 46. 



Body elongate, somewhat depressed anteriorly, terete posteriorly; caudal peduncle stout and short, 

 flattish above and below; head long, its profile nearly straight, a depression l)etween eyes and tlie sharp 

 high nasal spines, a very prominent rounded projection lietween the latter, into which the premaxillary 

 projects, the outline from this projection to snout straight and steep; snout somewhat actite; mouth large, 

 gape extending to lielow middle of pupil; maxillary extending a distance equal to pupil Ijeyond posterior 

 margin or orliit, its lireadth 1.3 in eye, its edge slipping somewhat under the preorl)ital and its body as a 

 whole fitting into a depression in the cheek so that its surface is on a level with the cheek, thus matching 

 the rest of the cheek in surface and color; maxillary inconspicuous; upper lip a liroad. high fold, lying 

 well back over the anterior edge of maxillary-; teeth small, sharp, in broad villiform bands in jaws, the 

 inner rows somewhat larger, sharper, these depressible and pointing backward; band of teeth in upper 

 jaw interrupted by a naiTow mesial fold; teeth on vomer in a rather large V-shaped patch, the teeth 

 larger than those of jaws; palatines toothless; tongue large, bluntlv round. 



Anterior nostril in front of eye and consideral)ly lielow nasal spine, posterior nostril a prominent tul)e 

 above and behind anterior nostril and midway between nasal spine and eye; interorliital space rather 

 broad, concave, continuous with the somewhat liroader 

 and flatter occipital space; nasal spines high and sharp, 

 supraoccipital ridges high, terminating posteriorly in a 

 rather blunt conical postocular spine, this with a smaller 

 tubercle in f rout , several short ridge-like tubercles be- 

 hind them; jiarietal ridges prominent converging pos- 

 teriorly, terminating in rather sliarp backwardly pro- 

 jecting spines, on tne outer side of this ridge a concave 

 depression bounded by a liroken elevated ridge; subor- 

 bital stay prominent, slender, long, striate, extending 

 from beneath eye nearly to root oP upper preopercular 

 spine; preopercular spines 3, the upper much the 

 longer, about equal to eye, pointing backward and 

 slightly upward, covered with skin nearly to the tip; 



second spine conical, acute, not half as long as upper, pointing liackward and somewhat outward; 

 lower spine stout, short, pointing downward and forward; <ipercular spine short, stout, and sharp, 

 terminating a long high ridge, which extends anteriorly almost to base of opercle, preopercular flap 

 extending some distance beyond the spine; scapular spine short, sharp, and stout, terminating a high 

 ridge, at the base of which is a small tubercle; gills with a long slit behind the last. 



Origin of spinous dor.sal on a vertical with tip of .scapular spine, the base 2.3 in head, the third spine 

 longest. 'i.G in head the membrane reaching nearly to the tips of the spines behind, somewhat scalloped 

 between them, the margin of the fin straight, descending regularly from the third to eighth, which is 

 very short and without free margin; space between spinous and soft dorsals 2 in eye, base of soft dorsal 

 1.5 in head, its rays about equal, except a few of the last, the longest rays 3.1 in head, none of the rays 

 projecting beyond membrane; contour of fin somewhat rounded in front, tipper margin straight; anal 

 similar to soft dorsal, its origin under base of third dorsal ray, its base 2.1 in head, its median rays about 

 3.75 in head; caudal truncate, tips of the rays slightly projecting; pectoral broad, rounded, the rays 

 stout and simple, the lower somewhat stouter and much shorter, acute, somewhat free at tips, the broad 

 procurrent base well covered by the gill-membranes, length of fin 1.75 in head, its tip scarcely reach- 

 ing vent; ventrals 3.1 in head, narrow, inner rays longest, tips reaching half way to vent. 



Body naked, a row of stellate disks above and quite near to lateral line, an irregular patch of similar 

 but smaller disks in axillary region, extending backward in a single row, but becoming mere sharp 

 prickles posteriorly; top and sides of head covered as far back as base of dorsal with small warty promi- 

 nences, those in occipital region depressed and crater-like at the top, those in the latero-occipital pits 

 rounded; no cirri. 



Fig. 68. — Myoxocephalus jaok (Cuvier & Valenciennes). 



