III. COTTOIDS OP NORTH AMERICA. 45 



The mouth is proportionally great; its angles reach posteriorly a vertical which 

 would pass in advance of the pupil. The jaws and teeth, as far as external inves- 

 tigations go, do not exhibit any peculiarity which is not to be found in other 

 species. On the other hand, the palatine bones are in some cases provided with 

 minute asperities or rudimentary teeth. The eyes are subcircular in form, propor- 

 tionally large, and their longitudinal diameter contained only four times in the 

 length of the head. The anterior nostrils are nearer the end of the snout than the 

 orbit. The posterior ones are above and nearer the orbit, resembling a similar 

 opening below and corresponding to the anterior extremity of the anterior sub- 

 orbital. The preopercular spine is quite small, very acute, and bent obliquely 

 upwards, assuming, on the figured specimen, a hook-like appearance. The spine on 

 the subopercular is more conspicuous than in C. viscosus. The gill openings are 

 also greater, and the isthmus smaller, than in the latter. 



The first dorsal is very low; its origin is exactly opposite to the base of the 

 ventrals, and distant from the end of the snout by fifteen-sixteenths of an inch. 

 Its upper edge is almost straight, and parallel to the back, the rays having nearly 

 all the same height. The latter are six in number, occupying a space of three- 

 eighths of an inch, the last ray sending its membrane to the second dorsal. 



The origin of the second dorsal is in advance of the vent, extending backwards 

 till quite near the caudal, being two times and a half as long as the first dorsal. 

 It contains sixteen unbranched rays, the last of which is often double. The 

 anterior edge of the anal corresponds to the space between the fifth and sixth rays 

 of the second dorsal, and terminates before the latter. The tip of its rays, how- 

 ever, extend nearly as far back. The rays, thirteen in number, are as long as 

 those of the second dorsal, but, their membrane being shorter, the anal appears 

 not quite as high. The caudal is elongated, posteriorly rounded off, and quite 

 convex ; its length is contained four times in that of the body and head inclusive, 

 thus constituting the fifth part of the total length. The middle rays show a double 

 bifurcation. The insertion of the ventrals takes place back of that of the pectorals, 

 and, when bent backwards, their tip nearly reaches the vent. There are four soft, 

 articulated, but unbranched rays, of which the two middle ones are the longest. 



The pectorals are proportionally longer than in C. viscosus; the rays are slender, 

 till undivided, and their tip reaches the origin of the anal, and, consequently, the 

 fifth of the second dorsal. The base of insertion of these fins, seen exteriorly, is 

 almost vertical. The formula of the fins is nearly identical with that of C. Wil- 

 sonii. 



Br. 6. D VI. 16. A 13. C 2. I. 4. 4. I. 3. V I. 4. P 14. 



The anus is nearer the snout than the extremity of the caudal fin, and under 

 the first ray of the second dorsal. 



The lateral line is conspicuous from head to tail. It takes a straight course 

 until the fourteenth ray of the second dorsal, where it sinks gradually down to 

 reach the medial line of the peduncle of the tail, just at the termination of the 

 second dorsal, whence it takes again a straight course to the base of the caudal fin. 



The general ground of the color is grayish, maculated, and dotted with black. 



