1952 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



Cottus wilsoni* GIRARD, Monograph Cottoids, 42, 1851, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. (Coll. 

 Jacob Green.) 



Cottus alvordiij GIRARD, Monograph Cottoids, 46, 1851, Fort Gratiot, Lake Huron. 

 (Coll. Major Benj. Alvord.) 



Potamocottus zopherus,l JORDAN, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N". T. 1876, 320, Etowah River and 



tributaries, Rome, Georgia. (Coll. Jordan & Gilbert.) 



TTranidea-richardsoni. JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 696, 1883. 



Vranidea richardsoni, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 696, 1883 ; but the name richardsoni 

 is preoccupied in Cottus. 



Cottus bairdii, JORDAN, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm. 1889, 29. 



Potamocottus Carolines^ GILL, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 1861, 40, Carolina; GILL, in Simp- 

 son Kept, Ichth, Utah, 403, 1877. 



Subgenus TAURIDEA, Jordan & Rice. 

 2322. OTTUS RICEI, Nelson. 



Head 3f ; depth 5. First dorsal VIII, second dorsal and anal destroyed ; 

 V, I, 4 ; P. 15. Eye 4, 1 in interorbital space and equalling snout. Body 

 short and stout, abruptly contracted opposite base of anal. Head much 

 depressed, very broad and flat, broader than body, breadth greater than 

 length ; depth \ length. Palatine teeth present. Tail very small, sub- 

 terete. Outline tadpole-like. Jaws about equal; mouth rather narrow; 

 jaws contracted and somewhat produced. Eyes on upper surface near 

 together. Preopercular spine extremly large, 3 times as large as in any 

 other fresh-water Cottoid known, as long as eye, hooked backward and 

 upward, giving a buffalo-like appearance. Three spines hooked down- 

 ward below the larger spine; the lower concealed; a strong spine hooked 

 forward at base of opercles. Branchiostegals 6. Isthmus as wide as from 

 snout to middle of orbit. Base of pectorals crescentic, their tips just short 

 of anal; rays all simple; ventrals reaching distance to vent. Profile 

 rising rapidly to dorsal, which runs along a sort of carina. Dorsal begin- 

 ning a trifle behind ventrals, just behind head, about midway between 

 snout and anal. Vent midway between snout and base of caudal. Depth 

 at first ray of anal less than \ length of head, thickening at same point 

 over . Head smooth. Space above lateral line behind head covered 

 with small stiff prickles hooked backward, readily visible as small black 

 specks when skin is dry. Color pale brown, irregularly spotted and mot- 

 tled with darker brown somewhat as in Lota; pectorals mottled; belly 

 white ; spines spirally curved, forming a spiral. The most peculiar char- 

 acters are the strong spines of the preopercle and the smaller ones below, 



* Coitus wilsoni Girard, is rather stouter, with stronger palatine teeth, and with some 

 nv,in v^iP perm i P 60 * 1 rays bifurcate, these being entire in the others. 

 Ohio Valley, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. 



iJnS^S* alv()r <ti, Girard, is short and chubby, with the first dorsal rather high, and 

 Michigan 8C m re than in th6 ther forms ' Common in Wisconsin and 



variega^^e^st'dor8af 1 l i f slender and . vei T dark i coior, and more conspicuously 



i nS M ^?i r fo ? aJ| MJ 11 ' is a - ver y lar e form < rather robust, reaching a length of nearly 



t^^n^^th 1111 ?^ ? rickle ^ andwith the palatine teeth will developed. The 



^orads ^fthA r ^ berfor 2 8 * i ?. sometimes continuous and sometimes interrupted. 



incave^ meatoue regum irom Indiana to Tennessee, and is frequently found 



