THE FISHES OF XEW JERSEY. 225 



rounded, a little anterior. ]\Iouth oblique, and mandible pro- 

 jecting. Maxillar}' small, not reaching orbit. Teeth minute in 

 jaws. Interorbital space narrow, flat. Gill-rakers rather long 

 and large, in moderate number. Gill-membranes free from 

 isthmus posteriorly. Xo dermal bony plates along sides. Small 

 plates along bases of dorsal and anal, and on caudal keel. Skeletal 

 plates not covered by skin. Postpectoral plate well developed and 

 striate. Thoracic processes well developed, widely divergent, and 

 forming a U-shaped figure. Bones of skull granulate, surface 

 bones all weak. Pubic bone feeble, not carinated, lanceolate, edge 

 raised, lanceloate and median part thin. First dorsal spine in- 

 serted before base of pectoral, tenth a little the larger and longer, 

 and basis of fin a little less than distance from base of last spine 

 to base of caudal. Rayed dorsal inserted nearer base of caudal 

 than posterior margin of eye, elevated anteriorly. Anal similar 

 to rayed dorsal, and spine detached in front. Caudal lunate. Pec- 

 toral broad, reaching nearly as far back as tip of ventral spine. 

 Ventral inserted about opposite base of fourth dorsal spine and 

 reaching half way to anal. Color olivaceous above, punctulate 

 and irregularly barred with darker. Below silvery. Length 2 

 inches. Beesley's Point. 



This is the only example I have seen. It is a northern and 

 widely distributed species, abounding in mountain lakes and 

 streams, and in both fresh and brackish waters. Writers refer to 

 it as the nine-spined stickleback, though the above example has 

 ten, a character, together with its slender form, which will at once 

 serve to distinguish it from any other species. 



Pygosfetis occidentalis Abbott, Geol. N. J., 1868, p. 815. 



Pygosfens dekayi Abbott, 1. c. 



Genus Gasterosteus Linn^us. 



The Two Spined Sticklebacks. 



Gasterosteus bispinosus Walbaum. 



Stickleback. Two Spined Stickleback. Xew York Stickleback. 



Head 3^^ ; depth 4^^ ; D. II-I, i, 10; A. I, i, 8; scutes 30; 

 mandible 3 >^ in head: first dorsal spine 3: first dorsal ray 2; 

 i; MU 



