500 



THE FUE SEALS OP THE PRIBILOP ISLANDS. 



20. Myoxocephalus axillaris (Gill). 



Cottus axillaris, Bean, in Nelson's Eep. Nat. Hist. OoU. Alaska, PI. XVI, fig, 2. 



Head, 2f ; horizontal diameter of orbit, 5 in head and.l^ in snout; interorbital 

 space, 6 in head; depth, 4^; maxillary reaches the vertical with posterior edge of eye 

 and is contained 2^ times in the head; dorsal, IX or X, 15 or 16; anal, 11 or 12; pec- 

 toral, 15 or 16; caudal, 9 branched rays; lateral line, 40. 



Head wide and depressed; mouth horizontal, lower jaw included; nasal spine well 

 developed, but completely covered by the skin. The preopercle has a straight spine 

 at its upper angle, almost covered with skin and equal in length to the vertical diameter 

 of the orbit; a second spine immediately below this, completely covered by the skin 

 and one-half as long as upper spine; at the lower angle of the preopercle there is a 

 tubercle. The opercle has a strong horizontal spine at its upper angle, completely 

 embedded in the membrane and not reaching the edge of the gill flap. At the lower 

 angle of the opercle there is a small downward-directed spine, also completely covered 

 by skin. Suprascapular spine well developed, but completely embedded. Pectoral 

 spine blunt and covered. The occipital ridges are scarcely elevated; four broad, con- 

 spicuous tentacles, corresponding to the positions of the supraocular and occipital 

 tubercles. The orbital rims are considerably elevated, having a flat, depressed space 

 between them. Top of the head covered with small wart-like protuberances. Above 

 the lateral line there is a row of osseous plates, smaller and more closely placed beneath 

 the second dorsal; a similar scattered row below the lateral line just beneath the 

 second dorsal. The longest ray of the first dorsal (the fourth or fifth) 2J times in 

 head; the first six rays about equal in length. The second dorsal is higher and about 

 the same shape as the first; the longest ray l-i% in head. The caudal truncated, the 

 corners about square. The pectorals are large and reach to the second ray of anal. 

 The ventrals scarcely reach the vent. 



Color above quite dark, strongly marked with black and white; a saddle of black 

 under the anterior three-fourths of first dorsal; there are two similar but smaller 

 saddle markings over the back below the second dorsal, one beneath the anterior, the 

 other beneath the posterior end; a black blotch on the side of the caudal peduncle, a 

 characteristic marking in several of the members of this genus. The ventral surface 

 of the fish is lighter; the sides with large ovate white spots; four or five bright cream 

 spots at the edge of the black and hidden by the pectorals. The mandibles are 

 mostly black, the lower lip with black mottliu^s; angle of the mouth light; tip of 

 the maxillaries black; a black blotch at isthmus just back of membrane. The first 

 dorsal is mostly black; a white blotch covering lower half of membranes between 

 fourth and sixth spines; from the upper anterior angle of this blotch the white 

 extends across the fourth spine and runs into the spot at the edge of the mem- 

 brane and between the third and fourth spines; at the edge of the membrane and 

 between each spine there is a white spot, very small between first and second, but 



