Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 1949 



punetulatus; in the others more or less prickles are developed, varying from 

 a few in axil of pectorals to a band covering more than of the sides. 

 As this is not an unusual amount of variation, we do not consider Coitus 

 semiscaber worthy of recognition. The relations of Coitus punctulatus with 

 the eastern species have not been carefully worked out, and it seems best 

 to recognize it for the present as distinct. Specimens from Green River, 

 Wyoming, and from Mink Creek, Ross Fork, and Port Neuf River, Poca- 

 tello, Idaho. The collection contains also 2 specimens from Thompson 

 Falls and 3 from Flathead Lake, which seem to be this species. By the 

 Fort Hall Indians this fish is called alt we, a word meaning horns. 



(puncl Hiatus, speckled.) 



Potamocottus punctulatus, GILL, Proc. Bos. Soc. Nat. Hist. 1861, 40, Bridgers Pass, Wyo- 

 ming (Coll. Capt. Simpson) ; GILL, IcLth. Capt. Simpson Expl., 402, 1876, with plate. 

 Coitus punctulatus, GILBERT & EVERMANN, Bull. IT. S. Fish Comra. 1894, 202. 

 Uranidea punctulata, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 697, 1883. 



2320. COTTTJS SEMISCABEB (Cope). 

 (BocKY MOUNTAIN BULLHEAD.) 



Head 3; depth 4|; D. V1II-17 or 18; A. 12 or 13; eye 5 in head; maxil- 

 lary 2| ; third dorsal spine 4 in head; highest dorsal rays 2f; pectoral 1J; 

 ventral nearly 2 ; caudal If. Body not much compressed, caudal peduncle 

 wide, equal to length of snout; head broad and rounded anteriorly as 

 viewed from above; mouth large, the maxillary reaching about to poste- 

 rior margin of eye ; band of teeth broad on jaws, vomer, and the palatines ; 

 interorbital space (bone only) narrow, not over ^ eye; preopercular spines 

 rather stout and blunt. Pectorals reaching to front of anal ; dorsals not 

 connected, scarcely meeting in some specimens; ventrals not reaching to 

 vent; last rays of soft dorsal reaching almost to base of caudal, highest 

 dorsal rays equal snout and -J- eye; vent much nearer tail than tip of 

 snout. Color slaty gray in spirits, with mottlings on sides which form 

 inconspicuous cross bars; pectorals, dorsals, and caudal, with wavy cross 

 lines; ventrals and anal white or sometimes dusky and mottled; a dark 

 spot on spin ous dorsal posteriorly, fin edged with white. Rocky Mountain 

 region, in clear streams on both slopes. Abundant in Colorado, northern 

 New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, eastern Washington, and 

 Oregon. Found in the upper basins of the Fraser, Columbia, Missouri, 

 Colorado, Platte, Arkansas, and Lake Bonneville, its eastern and northern 

 limits not well ascertained. It is subject to very great variations in color, 

 size, and roughness of skin. Most specimens are smooth, or rough only in 

 the axil. Some, especially from southern Idaho and Provo River, Utah, 

 are quite rough, some of them as rough as Coitus asper or Coitus rliotlieus. 

 These rough specimens differ in no other respect from smooth ones from 

 the same localities. The specimens here especially described are from 

 Eagle River at Gypsum, Colorado, the largest 4| inches in length. 



Rough specimens from Provo are thus described by Jordan & Gilbert 

 (Synopsis, 695) : Head 3^; depth 4^. D. VII, 18; A. 14; V. 1,4; eye 4| in 

 head. Form of Coitus aspvr, but slender. Skin of top of head and entire 



