SCULPIN8. 985 



the skin ; upper angle of preopercle naaally with one or more spinons prooeaseB ; teeth 

 eqnal, in villiform or cardiform bands on jawe, and usually on vomer and palatines ; pre- 

 maxillaries protractile ; maxillary without supplemental bone ; gills 3J or 4 ; slit behind 

 the last gill small, or obsolete; gill-rakers short, tnbercle-like or obsolete; gill-mem- 

 branes broadly connected, often joined to the isthmus ; body naked, or variously armed 

 ■with scales, prickles, or bony platf s, but never uniformly scaled; lateral line present, 

 simple ; dorsal iins separate or somewhat connected, the spines usually slender, the soft 

 part elongate ; caudal fin separate, rounded ; anal fin similar to the soft dorsal, without 

 spines; pectoral fins large, with broad procnrrent base, the rays mostly simple, the 

 upper sometimes branched ; ventrals thoracic, rarely entirely wanting, the rays usually 

 less than I, 5 ; pseudobrauchise present, at least in aU our species ; pyloric cceoa usually 

 in small number (4 — 8) ; air-bladder commonly wanting ; genera about 40 ; species about 

 160, mostly of the rock pools of Northern regions ; many speoigs found in fresh waters. 

 The majority of the species are of small size and singular aspect. None are valued as 

 food, the flesh being dry and rather coarse, and the wasfe consequent on the removal of 

 the head and skin very great. 



The fresh-water species are all small in size. They lurk under stones and in shady 

 places after the manner of the Darters. They are found only in clear waters, and delight 

 especially in caves and springs. 



All the fresh-water species are, we think, referable to two genera, 



a. Gill-membranes nearly free from the isthmus, forming a broad fold across it ; a slit 

 behind last gill ; bones of head extensively cavernous ; no palatine teeth. 



Triglopsis. 



aa. Gill-membranes fully united to the isthmus; no slit behind last gill; bones of 

 head little cavernous ; palatine teeth present or not. . . . Ubanidba. 



Genus 84. TRIGLOPSIS. Girard. 



Triglopeis, Girard, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., iv, 1^51, 18. 



Ptyonotus, Gunther, Cat. Fishes ^it. Mus,, ii, 1860, 175 (substitute for I'riylopsis, con- 

 sidered to be preoccupied), there being a marine genus Triglops Kroger, 1844, in the 

 same family. 



Type, Triglopsis thompsonii, Girard. 



Etymology, Trigla, the Gurnard, a marine genus of another family to which the present 

 genus bears no special resemblance; opsis, appearance. 



Fresh-water Sculpins with the body and head slender and elongated, the former taper- 

 ing quite rapidly away towards the tail ; both covered with smooth naked skin ; mouth 

 large; lateral line chain-like; teeth on vomer, none on the palaiines; eyes large, the 

 interorbital area concave ; bones of lower part of head extensively cavernous ; a small 

 but distinct slit behind last gill ; gill membranes almost free from the isthmus, forming 

 a broad fold across it ; preoperoular spines, short, straight, simple ; fins large, especially 

 the second dorsal. Small fishes inhabiting the deeper waters of the iJreat Lakes. A 

 single species known, thus far found in Lake Ontario and in Lake Michigan. It undoubt- 

 edly occurs also in Lake Erie, although none has yet come to the notice of any natural- 

 ist. Most of the specimens thus far obtained of Triglopsis thompsonii have been taken 

 from the stomach of the Ling (Lota maculosa). The relations of the genus Triglopsis are 

 particularly with the marine genus Cottus, and it seems to be a modified survivor of an 

 ancient salt-water species, of the fauna of the basin of the Great Lakes. 



