520 The Blennies: Blenniide 
eel-shaped blennies with soft rays only, found on the coasts of Asia. 
Another small family, Derepodichthyide, is represented by one 
species, a scaleless little fish from the shores of British Columbia. 
The Xenocephalide consist of a single peculiar species, Xeno- 
cephalus armatus, from the island of New Ireland. The head 
is very large, helmeted with bony plates and armed with spines. 
The body is short and slender, the ventrals with five rays, the 
dorsal and anal short. 
The Cusk-eels: Ophidiidea.—The more important family of 
Ophidiide, or cusk-eels, is characterized by the extremely ante- 
rior position of the ventral fins, which are inserted at the throat, 
each one appearing as a long forked barbel. The tail is lepto- 
Fie. 472.—Cusk-eel, Rissola marginata (De Kay). Virginia. 
cercal, attenuate, the dorsal and anal confluent around it. Ophi- 
dion barbatum and Rissola rochet are common in southern 
Europe. Rissola marginata is the commonest species on our 
Atlantic coast, and Chilara taylort in California. Other species 
are found farther south, and still others in deep water. Genyp- 
terus contains numerous species of the south Pacific, some 
of which reach the length of five feet, forming a commercial 
substitute for cod. Genypterus capensis is the klipvisch of the 
Cape of Good Hope, and Genypterus australis the “Cloudy Bay 
cod”’ or “rock ling” of New England. Another large species, 
Fie. 473.—Lycodapus dermatinus Gilbert. Lower California. 
Genypterus maculatus, occurs in Chile. A few fragments doubt- 
fully referred to Ophidion and Fierasfer occur in the Eocene and 
later rocks. The Lycodapodide contain a few small, scaleless 
fishes (Lycodapus) dredged in the north Pacific. 
