THE CONNEMARA SUCKER. 

 A CA NTHOPTERI. 



THE CONNEMARA SUCKER. 



Lepidogaster cephalus, THOMPS. Nat. Hist, of Irel. iii. p. 214. 



THE authority for this species is a specimen, which was 

 taken in Roundstone Bay, Connemara, on the western 

 coast of Ireland, and is preserved in the collection of the 

 late Dr. Ball of Dublin. It has not been observed on the 

 English coasts, nor has any drawing been made of it to 

 which we have access. Mr. Thompson published an 

 account of it in the Annals of Natural History (iii. 34), 

 which has been reprinted in the posthumous edition of 

 his work above quoted. The following passages are 

 extracted from his paper. 



" This fish equals Lepidogaster Cornubiensis in size, but 

 differs from it in the dorsal and anal fins occupying a 

 considerable portion of its length, and in having a greater 

 breadth of head with a narrower snout : the body like- 

 wise is more depressed, and narrows more suddenly be- 

 hind the ventral disk into the tapering tail. Its specific 

 characters are a very minute cirrus before each eye ; 

 dorsal and anal fins unconnected with the caudal ; ven- 

 tral disk small. 



Br. 5 : D. 15 : A. 10 : P. 25 and 4 : C. 15 conspicuous, 20 in all. 



"Head very broad posteriorly, forming more than one- 

 third of the entire length ; in front of each orbit, and on 

 a line with its upper border, there is a cirrus so minute 

 as to be scarcely visible without the aid of a lens ; eyes 

 large, two of their diameters apart : teeth pointed and 

 numerous on the jaws, the outer premaxillary ones being 

 the largest; gill-opening small; ventral disk smaller, and 



