Jordan and Evermann . Fishes of North A merica. 2457 



teeth in outer series larger; no teeth on vomer or palatines; dorsal fin 

 very long, low, some of its posterior rays much lower than the others, 

 developed as sharp spines; pectoral fins broad; ventrals jugular, of 3 or 4 

 soft rays; scales small, not imbricated, embedded in the skin; lateral line 

 slender, lateral in position; size large; species viviparous. The Ameri- 

 can and Asiatic species (subgenus Macrozoarces) differ from the European 

 type of Zoarces, Cuvier, in the increased number of fin rays and vertebra*. 

 In Zoarces viviparus (Linnaeus), the European eelpoiit, the dorsal rays 

 are about 100, the anal about 85, and the number of vertebr3 is propor- 

 tionally diminished, (^axxpurfg, viviparous.) 



Subgenus MACROZOARCES, Gill. 



2812. ZOARCES ANGUILLARIS* (Peck). 



(EEL-POUT; MUTTON-FISH ; MOTHER OF EELS.) 



Head 6 ; depth 7. D. 95, XVIII, 17 ; A. 105. Mouth moderate, lower jaw 

 included; maxillary reaching beyond orbit; pectoral long, about length 

 of head ; veutrals head ; highest ray of dorsal about equal to snout, the 

 posterior spines about length of eye ; first ray of dorsal above preopercle. 

 Reddish brown, mottled with olive, the scales paler than the skin about 

 them; dorsal fin marked with darker; a dark streak from eye across 

 cheek and opercles. Length 20 inches. Delaware to Labrador; rather 

 common north of Cape Cod. Two forms occur, distinguished by the size 

 of the jaws. These have been regarded as distinct species, but the large- 

 mouthed form (ciliatus; labrosus} is doubtless the male, as a similar varia- 

 tion occurs in Lycodopsis pacificus, and exists in some degree in species of 

 Ly codes. (anguillaris, eel-like.) 



? Encheliopus, GRONOW, Zoophyl., 77, No. 266, 1763, America (unicolor) ; dorsal and anal 



united with the caudal. 

 ? Blennius americanus, BLOCK & SCHNEIDER, Syst. Ichth., 171, 1801, America; after 



Gronow. 



Blennius anguillaris, PECK, Mem. Amer. Ac. Sci., II, 1804, 46, New Hampshire. 

 Blennius fimbriatus, MITCHILL, Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. N. T. 1815, 374, pi. 1, fig. 6, New 



York. 



Blennius ciliatus, MITCHILL, Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. N. Y. 1815, 374, pi. 1, fig. 7, New York. 

 Zoarces labrosus, CUVIER, Regne Anim., Ed. n, vol. 2, 240, 1828, America; CUVIER & 



VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., xi, 466, 1836. 



Zoarces gronovii, CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., xi, 469, 1836; after Gronow. 

 ? Enchelyopus americanus, GRONOW, Cat. Fishes, Ed. Gray, 101, 1854, American Ocean. 

 Zoarces fimbriatus, CUVIER & VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss., xi, 468, 1836. 

 Blennius labrosus, MITCHILL, Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. N. T. 1815, 375. 

 Zoarces anguillaris, STORER, Fishes Mass., 66, 1839; STORER, Synopsis Fishes N.A.,375, 



1845; GUNTHER, Cat., in, 296, 1861 ; JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 784, 1883. 



* Allied to Zoarces anguillaris is the following species from the Ochotsk Sea : 

 ZOARCES ELONGATCS, Kner. 



Head5f; depth 11 J. D. 80, XII, 22. A. 90 or more. Lateral line extending somewhat 

 beyond pectorals. Color brownish, no brown streak behind eye ; dorsal with 12 to 14 large 

 dark spots which extend on the back as faint bands, between which are smaller ones. 

 Known from 1 specimen, 10J inches long, from Decastris Bay, near the mouth of the Amur. 

 (Kner). (elongatus, elongate.) 



Zoarces elongatus, KNER, Sitzber. k. k. Akad. Wien 1868, 52, taf. 7, f. 2, Ochotsk Sea. 

 (No. 1502, Wien Mus.) 

 3030 -- 77 



