COTTOIDS. 
161 
Obs. Lutken’s opinion that Coitus pistilliger, as described by 
Pallas ( Zoogr . Ross. Asiat ., vol. Ill, p. 143), is identical with 
Gymnocantlius ventralis, has indeed won general approval, as ap- 
pears from the above list of synonyms; but the collections made 
by the Vega Expedition in the north-east of Siberia seem to us to 
throw a new light on the question. Especially worthy of notice are 
a pair, o 71 and of the typical pistilliger , obtained off Najtscbkaj. 
The male (fig. 47) is 163 mm. in length, has a long and pointed 
urogenital papilla, and is furnished with well-developed spines on the 
inside of both the pectoral and the ventral fins. On the part of the 
spinous warts on the head, while on the top of the head and the 
occiput there are distinct, though small, spines, which correspond to 
the parieto-occipital spines so common in other Cottoids, in their 
characteristic, quadrangular arrangement. There are also several other 
differences from the characters we have given above in the diagnosis 
of Gymnocantluis ventralis. Considering that w T e have been able to 
compare a fully developed male of Gymn. pistilliger , which was ready 
to spawn, with a male of Gymn. ventralis 190 mm. in length, from 
Disco (Greenland), these differences seem far too great to fall under 
the head of variations within one and the same species. The length 
Fig. 47. Gymnocantlius pistilliger , a 71 , with three dermal appendages (which may be seen between the urogenital papilla and the ventral fin), 
taken from the part of the side which is hidden by the pectoral fin. Natural size. From Najtschkaj Lagoon, 19th March, 1879. 
Fig. 48. Gymnocantlius pistilliger , 9 - From Najtschkaj Lagoon, 14th May, 1879. Natural size. 
abdominal sides which is covered by the pectoral fins, we find the 
usual white spots and also the clapper-like or spatulate, soft, dermal 
appendages®, with black stalk and white head, which arc especially 
remarked by Pallas. The female (fig. 48), which is of almost the 
same size, is naturally without these characters. The most marked 
character of the species, however, is the almost entire absence of the 
of the head in the former specimen is 2 8' 2 °/ 0 of the length of the 
body, while in the male specimen of Gymn. ventralis from Disco it 
is 26’3 %, and in a specimen of Gymn. ventralis 43 mm. in length 
27’9 %. In the female specimen of Gymn. pistilliger it is 30 /. 
The length of the maxillary bones in the male specimen of Gymn. 
pistilliger is only 30’4 % of the length of the head, in the female 
a “Pedunculi pistilliformes, minuti, albi, molles, e filo brevissimo et capitulo piano fungiformi compositi” (Pallas), not as Lutken 
supposes, “half-cruciform, spinous scales”. 
Scandinavian Fishes. 
21 
