274 Mr. C. T. Regan on the 



small conical teeth are present in the jaws and sometimes on 

 tlie palate; the gill-openings are rather wide, the gill- 

 membranes being joined to the isthmus below the pra^- 

 operculum. 



\\\ Lumpemis lamjyetriformis there are 81 vertebrae (28 + 

 63) ; the skull has the interorbital region narrower and the 

 postorbital part shorter and flatter above tlian in Chirolophus, 

 Dictt/osoma, Pholis, &c. 



It is doubtful whether more than one genus is really 

 definable : Lumiyenus, Ueinh., with a few species from 

 Arctic and northern seas. 



Family 7. Microdesmidae. 



Body elongate, covered with small scales ; no lateral line. 

 Vertical fins confluent ; dorsal long, anteriorly of slender 

 spines, posteriorly of soft rays ; anal without spines; caudal 

 of 15 principal rays ; pelvics subthoracic, of a snuill spine 

 and 1 or 2 soft rays. Mouth small, not protractile, terminal, 

 oblique, with the lower jaw prominent ; teeth in the jaws 

 only; eyes small; suborbitals apparently not ossified; gill- 

 openings small oblique slits in front of the lower part of the 

 pectorals. 



Three species, from the Pacific coast of Tropical America, 

 have been referred to two genera, Microdesmus and Ctrdale. 

 In Microdesmus dipus, Giinth., I find that each pelvic Un 

 consists of a small spine and 2 soft rays, the outer simple, 

 the inner bifid distally ; in some features this species recalls 

 the Stichasid Cehedichthys. 



Family 8. Ptilichtliyidse. 



Ptilichthys goodei^ Bean, from the North Pacific, has the 

 naked body extremely elongate, tapering posteriorly, without 

 caudal fin ; the anterior part of the dorsal fin is formed of 

 short isolated spines, and the soft dorsal and anal are many- 

 rayed ; there are no pelvic fins. There is a broad mental 

 barbel ; the mouth is terminal, non-protractile ; the teeth 

 form a singla series in the jaws; the gill-membranes are 

 united but free from the isthmus, and the gill-openings are 

 restricted from above. According to Gilbert * the post- 

 temporal is not forked, but is a very slender bony rod; the 

 coracoids are well-developed and are not separated by carti- 

 lage ; the radials are large, hourglass-shaped, one on the 



* Gilbert, in Jord. & Everm. Fish. N. Amer. iii. pp. 2451-2452 (1898). 



