LIPARIDID^E. LXXVIL 153 



oa. Mouth rather large; the maxillary about 2J in head; no cross-groove 



top of head; black spot on 1st D. diffuse; preopercular spine with a 

 smaller one before it. 



b. Cheek bone without distinct spine at centre of radiation ; edge of pre- 

 orbital granular serrate ; spines on top of head not knife-like. 



424. P. strigatus Cuv. & Val. Head not very broad; gill rakers 

 long, 15 to 20; interorbital area flattish. Brownish, side with a 

 distinct bronze band parallel with lateral line, this breaking up in 

 spots behind ; head spotted ; body and fins with dark clouds ; P. 

 finely barred with black. Head 2|; depth 4. D. X-12. A. 11. 

 Scales 10-60-23. P. 2 in body. L. 12. Cape Cod to Va. (Per- 

 haps a variety of P. evolans L., which has scales larger, P. not 

 barred, etc. ; N. C., S.) (Lat., striped.) 



bb. Cheek bone with a spine at centre of radiation ; bones of head sharply 

 striate; head broad, the spines above compressed and knife-like, 

 especially in young. 



425. P. tribulus Cuv. & Val. Spines much larger than in 

 others, still larger in young ; spines on snout and side of cheek in 

 line with preocular spine; gill rakers thickish, about 10. Brown- 

 ish, much clouded ; no lengthwise stripe. Head 2^; depth 4^. D. 

 X -12. A. 11. Lat. 1. 50. L. 12. P. 2 in body. N. Y. to Texas. 

 (Lat., a thistle, or other source of tribulation.) 



FAMILY LXXVII. LIPARIDID^J. (THE SEA-SNAILS.) 



Body oblong, covered with lax, naked skin; head broad, obtuse; 

 suborbital stay slender ; teeth small, mostly tricuspid ; opercles un- 

 armed; gill openings small, the membranes joined to the isthmus; 

 gills 3, no slit behind last; no air bladder; pseudobranchiae 

 rudimentary. D continuous, the spines feeble. A. without spines. 

 V. I, 5, the two fully united, forming the bony centre of a broad 

 sucking-disk or else wanting. P. broad, the base procurrent, the 

 lower rays longer than those above them. C. short. Vertebrae 40 

 to 45. Genera 3; species about 20. Small fishes of the Arctic 

 seas, some of them in deep water. Although very different in ap- 

 pearance, they are closely related to some of the Collides. 



a. Ventral disk present. (Liparince.) 

 b. Ventral disk well developed ; vent well behind head. . . LIPARIS, 196. 



196. LIPARIS (Artedi) Fleming, (\urapos, sleek-skinned. 

 a. Dorsal fin continuous ; separated by a notch from caudal. 



426. L. montagui (Donovan). Snout very broad. Yellowish, 

 the fins dark-edged. Disk not quite half head. Head 3 ; depth 

 4. D. 28. A. 24. C. 14. P. 30. L. 3. Cape Cod, N. (Eu.) 

 (To Mr. G. Montagu, a writer on British fishes.) 



aa. Dorsal fin joined to the caudal. 



