2020 Bulletin //, United States National Museum. 



Shape of head and body much as in N. oculofasciatus; head short, the snout 

 rather sharp, the anterior profile steep ; nasal spines prominent, a short 

 occular cirrus, much smaller than in N. oculofasciatus, shorter than pupil; 

 interobital space narrow, about i eye, deeply concave; a blunt triangular 

 ridge above each orbit, with a deep cross furrow behind it which deepens 

 to a pit at the vertex; nuchal ridges lower than in N. oculofasciatus, each 

 with a coarse tubercle, lower and larger than in the other species. From 

 the nuchal depression, the base of first dorsal spines rises much less 

 abruptly. Preopercle with 4 blunt prominences, the upper often longer 

 and more spine-like. Mouth nearly horizontal, the lower jaw included; 

 a slender filament at end of maxillary; teeth small, a few on vomer and a 

 narrowband on palatines. Gill membranes broadly united to isthmus, 

 the gill opening extending a little below the lower edge of pectoral. 

 Skin covered with close-set villous prickles, among which large ones are 

 frequently seen arranged in rather definite longitudinal series, of which 

 there may be 2 or 3 parallel with the back, and 1 running near lower line 

 of tail. No smooth areas on sides. Lateral line conspicuous, the plates 

 with short spines directed backward. Dorsals separate, the first not 

 notched, comparatively low, the first spine highest, If in head in type ; in 

 other specimens 1 to 1 in head; soft dorsal and anal also low, none of the 

 rays reaching base of caudal when depressed ; pectoral longer than head ; 

 ventrals 1^ to 2 in head. Color, dull light olivaceous, mottled with darker ; 

 3 or 4 dark bands below soft dorsal, 1 below spinous dorsal; a black band 

 through eyes and across cheeks, extending onto branchiostegal membranes ; 

 7 dusky spots along lateral line, a conspicuous pink blotch, rather larger 

 than pupil, between first and second blotch; first dorsal dusky; second 

 dorsal, anal, and pectoral dotted and checked; caudal with faint finely 

 checked cross lines which deepen to form a dark bar at its base and a 

 broader one toward its tip; ventrals pale; belly mottled. Bering Sea. 

 One specimen, 6 cm. long, from Albatross Station 3635, off St. George Island, 

 in 23 fathoms. Another specimen barely an inch long was dredged in 7 

 fathoms in the harbor of Unalaska. Very numerous specimens were 

 obtained by the Albatross in 1890 in Bristol Bay and south of the Alaskan 

 Peninsula. It was at that time incorrectly identified by Dr. Gilbert with 

 N. oculofasciatus. In 5 specimens of those from Bristol Bay the dorsal con- 

 tains VIII or IX, 23 or 24 rays, the anal 16 or 17, the pectoral 15 or 16. 

 (priUlovius, from the Pribilof Islands, named for their discoverer, Geras- 

 simPribilof, 1786.) 



Nautichthys oculofasciatus, GILBERT, Kept. TJ. S. FishComm. 1893 (1896), 434; notof GIRARD. 

 Nautichthys pribilovius, JORDAN & GILBERT, Fishes Bering Sea, MS., 1898, off St. George 

 Island. (Type, No. 48237, U.S. Nat. Mus. Coll. Dr. Jordan.) 



751- NAUTICHTHYS, Girard. 

 Nautichthys, GIRARD, TJ. S. Pac. R. R. Surv., x, Fishes, 74, 1858 (oculofasciatus). 



Body rather elongate, compressed, but not elevated, the skin evenly cov- 

 ered with short, close-set, villiform prickles. Head short, strongly com- 

 pressed, the cheeks subvertical; orbital ring much elevated above, with 



