Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 2115 



toward the dorsal fin, while the hinder part is elongate, much compressed, and tapering. 

 The more important of the distinguishing features may be summarized as follows: Head 

 short, broad, rounded ; snout short, blunt ; mouth anterior ; lips distinct ; teeth small, 

 numerous, in a cardiform band, tricuspid on intermaxillaries and dentary, simple on 

 phnryngeals; eyes lateral, small to medium; nostrils, 2 on each side, with short, project- 

 ing tubes; olfactory nerve short ; brain elongate; glossohyal rudimentary or absent; gills 

 3 double and 1 single; gill rakers with denticles ; pseudobranelnaB present; gill opening 

 small, above the pectoral; branchiostegal rays 6; branchial membranes not free; tubes 

 and pores of the lateral system forward of the gill aperture; dorsal and anal elongate, 

 more or less closely united with the caudal, with some anterior rays unsegmented ; pec- 

 torals broad, procurrent under the throat; ventrals transformed into an adhesive disk, 

 situated below the gills between the pectorals ; skin thin, loosely attached, smooth, except- 

 ing a sexual outgrowth on males in breeding season; stomach siphonal; pyloric cteca 

 numerous; intestine elongate ; urinary bladder large, simple; kidneys long, fused a por- 

 tion of their length; liver large, with partial divisions into lobes; gall bladder small, 

 rounded ; skeleton not heavily ossified, less in deep-sea forms ; upper limb of preopercu- 

 lum expanded backward; operculuni small; suboperculum narrow; interoperculum elon- 

 gate, styliform ; third suborbital produced backward, in a long, slender process, to the 

 hinder edge of the preoperculnm. 



The species of Liparis inhabit the colder waters of the north and of the south of both 

 Atlantic and Pacific, ranging to great depths. Among those frequenting the shores, if 

 not also the others, vegetation seems to form a portion of the food. The contents o: the 

 stomachs are miscellaneous lots of small marine animals (Crustacea, worms, mollusks, 

 small fishes, etc.), mixed with which are quantities of seaweeds. Some variation exists 

 in regard to feeding habits among the different species. The teeth of some show no 

 signs of wear from hard food, but in L. mucosus they are ground off and blunted, no doubt 

 by contact with the hard-shelled Crustacea and hard-scaled agonoid fishes, remains of 

 which are found in the stomachs. Very likely L. pulchellus turns his peculiar snout to 

 account by rooting in the mud or sand among the plants, or in turning over the pebbles. 

 Certain species are fitted for a life in beds of seaweed, others are probably more abundant 

 in rocky places. 



LIPARIS : 



a. Vertebrae in moderate number, about 39 ; dorsal rays about 35 ; anal rays 27 to 30. 



b. Gill openings very narrow, entirely above base of pectoral ; pectoral rays from 34 



to 37; head a little shorter than broad, and a little longer than deep; dorsal 



and anal slightly joined to caudal; caudal narrow, its rays 12. LIPARIS, 2449. 



bb. Gill openings broad, the lower part considerably below base of upper ray of 



pectoral. 



c. Pectoral rays 30 ; head low, flattish, longer than broad, broader than 



deep; jaws subequal; dorsal free from caudal, which is slightly joined 



to anal: caudal narrow, of 12 rays. CYCLOPUS, 2450. 



cc. Pectoral rays 41 to 43; head short, not quite as wide as long; caudal 15 to 



20; the dorsal and anal slightly joined to its base. FUCENSIS, 2451. 



CARELIPARIS (apa, head; Liparis): 



aa. Vertebrae about 46; dorsal rays 39 to 44; anal rays 33 to 36; dorsal and anal largely 



joined to caudal. 

 d. Pectoral rays 30 to 36. 



e. Gill opening small, its lower .edge not below first ray of pectoral; nostrils 



small, the tubes short or absent. 

 /. Posterior nostril scarcely tubular; fins plain, not distinctly mottled or 



barred; body robust; its color plain brownish or with dark spots. 

 g. Dorsal rays 39 or 40; anal 33; pectoral 30 to 34. TUNICATUS, 2452. 

 yg. Dorsal rays 44; anal 35; pectoral 37. HERSCHELINUS, 2453. 



/. Posterior nostril tubular, fins more or less mottled or barred, body 

 moderately elongate; lower rays of pectoral rather short, not \ head, 

 not reaching beyond ventral disk: body mottled usually with con- 

 centric rings. AGASSIZII, 2454. 



