1954 Bulletin 4.7, United States National Museum. 



cular spine large and strong, spirally curved upward and inward, wholly 

 invested with membrane; a single sharp concealed spiiious point below 

 angle of preopercle; isthmus broad, without fold, its width equaling dis- 

 tance from snout to middle of pupil. Spinous dorsal rather low, nearly 

 uniform, in height, connected with second dorsal by a low membrane; 

 longest spine equaling length of snout; soft dorsal long, its longest ray 

 2J in head; origin of anal fin under third dorsal ray, its last ray under 

 sixteenth of dorsal; highest anal ray 2| in head; ventrals I, 4, reaching 

 $ distance to vent; pectoral rays all simple, unbranched, the longest 

 reaching vertical from vent, and contained \\ times in head. Yent equi- 

 distant between tip of snout and base of caudal fin. Skin everywhere 

 smooth. Color olivaceous above, little punctulated, lower I of sides and 

 whole under side of head and body uniform whitish above, head and 

 body with irregular spots and blotches of black; these in finer pattern 

 on head, and not forming bands on back; dorsals, caudal, and pectorals 

 with black spots arranged in more or less distinct series; anal, ventrals, 

 and lower rays of pectorals translucent, unmarked. Lake Michigan; a 

 single specimen 4^ inches in length taken off Racine, Wisconsin, by Dr. 

 Philo R. Hoy. (pollex, the thumb, suggested by the name, Miller's Thumb. ) 



Vranideapollicaris; JORDAN & GILBERT, Proc. IT. S. Nat. Mus. 1882, 222, Lake Michigan, 

 off Racine, Wisconsin (Type, No. 29663. Coll. P. E,. Hoy) ; JORDAN & GILBERT, 

 Synopsis, 954, 1883. 



2325. COITUS COGXATUS, Richardson. 

 (BEAR LAKE BULLHEAD.) 



This species is thus described by Richardson : The Coitus which forms 

 the subject of this article was taken in considerable numbers in the clear 

 waters of Great Bear Lake during the month of May, at which period it 

 resorts to the stony shallows to spawn. Specimens which we sent to 

 Baron Cuvier were returned with the remark that they belonged to a 

 species of Coitus and were " tres semblables aux C. golrio" and they, indeed, 

 correspond in most particulars with the extended description of the latter 

 in the Histoire des Poissons. I have since compared these vspecimens 

 minutely with an English goUo, kindly lent to me by Mr. Yarrell, and the 

 principal difference that I have been able to detect in the American fish 

 is the greater height of its dorsal and anal fins. There is also a dis- 

 crepancy in the number of rays, but this can scarcely be accounted a 

 specific distinction, since different individuals of goUo show equally 

 extensive variations. The Bear Lake specimens having been long in 

 spirits have lost much of their color, but the following particulars may 

 still be noted : In Coitus yobio the rays of the pectorals are variegated with 

 rings alternately dark and light; in cognatus the color is almost uniform, 

 but varies in intensity in different individuals. In 1 small female speci- 

 men of the latter, however, there is a slight indication of these rings, and 

 its body likewise is marbled in a more lively manner than the rest, having 

 a greater resemblance to goUo. The males are darker than the females in 

 the American as well as the European species. The specimen which we 

 have described in detail was the largest we obtained, and was selected for 



