pediculati. 469 



Eleventh Fa]\iily — Psychrolutid^. 



Body rather elongate, naked ; head broad. Spinous dorsal 

 separate or ahscnt. Ventral fins close together, thoraeie, com- 

 posed of a feio rays. Teeth small. Three gills and a half ; 

 pseudohranchice luell developed; gill-openings of moderate width, 

 the gill-menibranes being attached to the isthmus. 



Of this family only two representatives are known, viz. 

 Psychrolutes j9«raf?oa:MS, from Vancouver's Islands, without 

 first dorsal fin ; and Neophrynichthys latus, from New Zealand, 

 with two dorsal fins. Both are very scarce marine fishes. 



Twelfth Family — Pediculati. 



Head and anterior part of the body very large, without 

 scales. No bony stay for the prmopereulum. Teeth villiform 

 or rasp-like. The spinous dorsal is advanced forivards, com- 

 posed of a few more or less isolated spines, often transformed 

 into tentacles ; or entirely absent. Ventrcd fins jugular, vjith 

 four or five soft rays, sometimes ahsent. The carpal bones are 

 p)rolonged, forming a sort of arm, terminating in the pectoral. 

 Gill-op)ening reduced to a small foramen, situated in or near 

 the axil. Gills two and a half, or three, or three and a half ; 

 p)seudobranchi(B generally absent. 



This family contains a larger number of bizarre forms 

 than any other ; and there is, perhaps, none in which the 

 singular organisation of the fish is more distinctly seen to be in 

 consonance with its habits. Pediculates are found in all seas. 

 The habits of all are equally sluggish and inactive ; they are 

 very bad swimmers ; those found near the coasts lie on the 

 bottom of the sea, holding on with their arm-like pectoral 

 fins by sea- weed or stones, between which they are hidden ; 

 those of pelagic habits attach themselves to floating sea-weed 

 or other objects, and are at the mercy of wind and current. A 



