Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 1931 



between front ;iii<l middle of pupil, 2^- (in young) to "1\ in length of head; 

 <'y (1 3]',, (i u young) to 3.V in head. Gill membranes widely joined, free 

 from the isthmus; a well-developed slit behind last gill; liasal spines 

 minute, as in rrioniNliu* mttrcUiis, barely visible; upper preopercular 

 spine short and simple, 3 lower ones developed as thin rounded lobes, 

 irregularly serrate or spinous. Squamation as usual in Triylops; the body 

 above the lateral line and the top and sides of head thickly covered with 

 small spinous scales; lower side of head, including the lower parts of 

 cheek and prcopercle, and a narrow st rip a long lower half of preorbital, the 

 suborbital ring, and the snborbital stay naked; the series of slightly 

 enlarged dorsal scutes very irregularly developed, the plates varying from 

 14 to 34, in 6 specimens counted. Lateral line slight ly depressed above 

 axil of pectorals, thence ascending by a gently convex curve, sometimes 

 nearly straight, with 54 to ">(> scutes of the usual character, having undu- 

 lating folds descending obliquely from the posterior margins; numerous 

 secondary folds also present, averaging about 2 to each scute of the lat- 

 eral line, the total number of folds counted along lower half of sides being, 

 in adults, about 135; anterior base and axil of pectorals and a strip 

 encircling breast in front of ventral tins naked, the breast with a few (5 

 to 10) transverse folds similar to those on sides; the lateral folds leave a 

 wide naked st rip along base of anal I'm and do not encircle caudal peduncle 

 below. Dorsal spines long and extremely slender, the longest 2 to 2^ in 

 head, the "2 lins separate, the membrane of the last spine extending to 

 base of first soft ray; soft dorsal very long, its base 2 1 1o 2r, in length, 

 ending slightly in advance of last anal ray; base of anal 2,1- to 2^ in 

 length; anus anterior in position, nearly mid way between axil of ventrals 

 and front of anal; ventrals inserted in the usual position, their distance 

 from snout o : f or 1 in length. Along their outer margin they are provided 

 with a wide cutaneous fold, as in Triylops bcditi. They extend well 

 beyond the vent, in male,, or nearly to the front of anal; pectorals usually 

 with 21 rays, the lower 7 simple, thickened, exserted, 2 or 3 of them often 

 as long as, or longer than, the branched rays above, the fin thus appear- 

 ing notched or lobed ; longest rays extending well beyond front of anal 

 and contained 1 to If times in head; caudal fin very sharply and deeply 

 forked, especially in male examples, where the median rays are but the 

 length of the longest ones; the caudal varies in length from -J length of 

 head (in males) to length (in females), and contains 11 rays, the lower- 

 most (coi'responding to the uppermost developed ray) shortened and 

 uubranched, as usual in Triglops. Coloration similar in the two sexes: 

 Light brownish (in spirits) above, the back crossed with the usual 4 

 saddle-shaped blotches, the first one broad, under the first 7 or 8 dorsal 

 spines, the second narrow, under the fifth to the tenth rays of second 

 dorsal, the third a nd fourth very narrow, under last dorsal rays and on 

 back of caudal peduncle; between the second and third bars are 2 or 3 

 similar fainter ones equally dividing the interspace; the bars are con- 

 tinued to below the lateral line, where they immediately fork, giving rise 

 thus to a series of vertical dark blotches mostly arranged in pairs ; the 

 interspaces between some of the anterior pairs with a bright silvery spot; 



