52 BULLETIN OF THE 



Crystallogohius nilssoni (Diib. & Ker.) Gill {Gobiosoma nilssoni Giinther, 

 Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus., III. 86), a species found on the coast of Norway, 

 from which it is distinguished generically by the obsolete eyes. . . . The 

 eyes are large and conspicuous in C. nilssoni." 



With reference to the integument of the head and its tactile organs, 

 this author says : " On the under side of the head the skin (in a pre- 

 served specimen) lies in irregular folds, which conform generally to the 

 outlines of the lower jaw, the outer folds reaching the gill openings. 

 Between the lower lip and these folds there is a series of papillae which 

 has its origin a short distance behind the corner of the mouth, the series 

 being slightly separated close behind the symphysis of the lower jaw by 

 two small, rounded flaps. The papillae number about fourteen on either 

 side of the flaps. On the superior surface of the snout, extending pos- 

 teriorly half as far as the termination of the maxillary, the skin is finely 

 wrinkled, and there is on either side a conspicuous flap, which seems to 

 conceal a nostril." The largest specimen examined by Miss Smith was 

 2| inches in length. 



The same author ('90, p. 181) publishes a note made by her at San 

 Diego, July 3, 1882, on the tenacity of life exhibited by this species, which 

 is so characteristic of it that I quote the passage nearly entire : " Three 

 specimens were secured and were placed alive in a two-quart tin pail 

 along with seaweeds, polyzoa, hydroids, living mollusks, a sea-cumber, 

 and a number of small fishes and crabs. The living forms in the pail 

 ■were so crowded and so short of water that all of the fishes except the 

 three pink blind fish had died before I reached home, the drive of 

 twelve miles being over a hilly road for some distance. . . . When re- 

 turning from La Jolla and other points along the seabeach, I have fre- 

 quently caiTied home the tide-pool species alive in this manner, and 

 invariably the Oligocottus analis, one of the small Cottidse, was more 

 tenacious of life than any of the other species. At this time, however, 

 Oligocottus expired with the rest, leaving the blind fish to claim the 

 honor of being the most hardy of the smaller species of the region. 

 This species is scaleless and exceedingly slippery. I took one of these 

 examples from the pail, when, like an eel, it slipped through my fingers 

 into a barrel of rain water standing near, swimming around in the barrel 

 several times. I then removed it to a clean shallow dish into which I 

 had poured half a cupful of sea sand, together with the small amount of 

 dirty sea water which had covered the medley of animate beings before 

 mentioned, Typhlogobius, still active, tried to bury itself in the sand, 

 but the dish was too shallow, and several efforts proved unavailing. . . . 



