228 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 



to the conclusion that the gasterosteids and aulorhynchids were offshoots of the scorpaenoid 

 group and that the aulostomoids, centriscoids, and lophobranchs form a natural group, for 

 which Tate Regan (1906-1908, p. xi) had invented the name Solenichthyes. Tate Regan 

 in 1909 (1909a, p. 84) could not, however, accept Jungersen's view that the gasterosteids 

 and aulorhynchids belong to the Scorpaenoidei, but in 1929 (p. 323) he tentatively accepted 

 this view, stating that in the stickleback the third suborbital bone is extended backward 



Amphisiie 



Fig. 109. Amphisiie. After Jungcrscn. 



over the cheeks as in the scorpaenoids and that none of the other characters seem to be 

 inconsistent with this allocation of the group. Starks (1926a, pp. 212, 213, footnote; p. 

 213), on the other hand, dissented from Jungersen's view and felt that the group might 

 better be left in its customary position not far from the synentognaths and Percesoces. In 

 1902 (1902a) Starks wrote as follows (p. 621): "The Hemibranchs certainly do not deserve 

 coordinate rank with the Acanthopteri but should be included as a suborder under them, 

 coordinate with the Percesoces. Probably the Synentognath fishes should also be so in- 

 cluded." He then cites (p. 621) a number of osteological characters which they share with 

 the Synentognathi and another set of characters (p. 622) which they share with the Per- 

 cesoces. He gives extended diagnoses of the Hemibranchii and of its main subdivisions, 

 recognizing the following superfamilies: Gasterosteoidea, Aulostomatoidea, Macrorhampho- 

 soidea and Centriscoidea. 



Comparison of the figures, descriptions of the pectoral girdles and family definitions 

 given by Starks, Jungersen, Tate Regan and the other authors cited above, indicate that 

 in a general way the gasterosteoids, the hemibranchs and the lophobranchs form successive 

 grades of organization, and that the relationships of the families within these groups are 

 as follows {cf. Goodrich, 1909, pp. 410-413): 



I 



Gasterosteoidea 

 GasterosteidsE 



Aulorhynchidse 



