42 



ME. a. Slil O'S THE OCCURREIfCE ETC. OF 



cylindrical, becoming compressed towards the caudal extremity, 

 while in Zoarces the body is compressed along its whole length. 

 Its dorsal fin has soft rays, 83 in number, after which are a few 

 spinous rays ; and the ventrals are well developed, having all the 

 rays soft. In dentition Zoarces differs from Lumpenus in having a 

 double row of teeth in both jaws, merging into one row, and 

 becoming less in size as they approach the angle of the mouth. 

 Six rows of upper pharyngeal teeth, viz. three on each side, the 

 first a single row, the other two double. Lower pharyngeal teeth 

 set in a double row which form a triangle; no teeth on the vomer or 

 tongue. The number of its vertebrse is 116, whereas in Lumpenus, 

 as already pointed out, these bones only number 80. In the 

 case of the internal viscera, there is a great similarity in the 

 two species under notice as compared with that of Centronotus. 

 But the point wherein lies the greatest difference between these 

 closely allied species is the fact of Zoarces bringing forth its 

 young alive *. 



Lumpenus is not viviparous. As to its time of spawning 

 I cannot speak with certainty ; at the end of April some of 

 those I found had the roe pretty well advanced, much more 

 so tha]i was the melt of the males caught at the same time. 

 Then, again, on May 20th I found one specimen measuring 

 only If inch. Assuming that the species breeds only once a 

 year, and taking into account the fact that those caught in April 

 had spawn fully halfway advaiiced towards maturity, we may 

 safely conclude that the spaw-ning takes place in July or August, 

 and that my If-inch specimen w-as one of last year's young. On 

 being boiled, the vertebrae of Zc»<2rces become a fine deep- green 

 colour, those of Lumpenus remain white. 



It will thus be seen that although Lumpenus has something in 

 its composition similar to both our common species ; it is at 

 the same time so widely difierent that no doubt need be enter- 

 tained as to its being a distinct and well-marked species, nor any 

 difficulty experienced in recognizing it from its congeners. 



* On April 22, 1886, I had two specimens of this fish — one of them with its 

 young, of which there were thirty, almost ready for expulsion, each measuring 

 2^ inches ; and in addition to these there were thirty-one more, evidently the 

 young of the former year, which had not been given birth to ; they were all 

 firmly fixed together and in a hard wasted condition, yet capable of being 

 separated individually. Why they had not been born at their proper time is a 

 mystery difficult of solution. 



