c< vrroiDs. 
191 
COTTUS LI LLJEBORG II . 
(Fig. 55.) 
Top of the head furnished' with spines and ridges , and rough with protuberances. Four preopercular spines , the 
length of the uppermost being scarcely greater than the longitudinal diameter of the eye, but extending usually as 
far bach as the point, of the opercular spine. Lateral line straight and , like the sides of the body , especially 
above the lateral line , armed until spines. The length of the 'maxillary bones , which is greater than that of the 
ventral fins and more than 80 % of that of the base of the anal fin , varies between about 55 and' 65 %, and the 
length of the lower jaw between about 65 and 75 %, of the length of the base of the second dorsal fin. Least 
depth of the tail more than 5 7* % of the length of the body , and varying between about, 35 and 45 % of the 
base of the anal fin. Margins of the branchiostegal membranes united to, and separated by, the isthmus a . Dermal 
papillce on the upper margin of the eye, and dermal filaments on the hind part, of the maxillary bones. Rays in 
the second dorsal fin at most 12, in the anal fin 8 or .9, in the ventral fins 3. 
R. hr. 5 1. 6; D. 8[ll 1. 12; .4. 8 1. 9; P. 15 1. 1(5; V. V 2 ; 
C. x +7 + x; L. lat. 25 ad 30 1. 31. 
Syn. Cottus Lilljeborgii , Coll., Vid. Selsk. Fork. Christ., 1874, Til- 
loegsh. p. 25; Ltkn. Vid. Meddel. Naturh. For. Kbhvn, 1876, 
p. 376; Coll., 1 . c., 1879, No. 1 , p. 13; Lillj. , So., Norg. 
Fisk., yoI. I, p. 158; Malm, Gbgs Naturh. Mus. Arsskr. 1881, 
p. 21; Coll., N. Mag. Naturv. Christ., Bd.29, H. 1, p. 54. 
If the Father-Lasher, in relation to the Sea Scor- 
pion, can lie called the Dwarf Cottus ( dvergsimpa ), this 
name may be applied with still greater propriety to 
Lilljeborg’s Cottus, the length of which, according to 
Lutken, is known to rise as high as 54 mm. in the 
Faroe Islands, but in Scandinavia has never exceeded 
47 mm. In relation to the preceding species, however, 
it occupies, in most respects, a place corresponding to 
the highest degree of development of the former, though 
it retains the above-mentioned spines on the sides of 
the body, especially above the lateral line, which in 
the Father-Lasher are a character of the larval stage. 
The other character which most distinguishes Lillje- 
borg’s Cottus, consists in a shortening of the occipital 
ridges (the posterior part of the ridges on the top of 
the head), which thus end in their posterior, spinous 
point at a greater distance from the beginning of the 
first dorsal fin. Though the separation between the two 
dorsal fins is more distinct than is generally the case in 
the preceding species, still we can apparently find no 
constant difference in this respect. On the other hand, 
the great difference in the length of the maxillary bones 4 , 
especially in comparison with the length of the ventral 
fins, should afford a definite character easy of employ- 
ment. The spinous armour of the body displays a strik- 
ing similarity to that of Centridermichthys hamatus , but 
is still closer, especially above the lateral line, and ex- 
tends as far back as the end of the second dorsal fin. 
One row of these spines, more developed than the others, 
coasts the bases of both dorsal fins, just as in the spe- 
cies referred to. Below the lateral line too, there are 
numerous spinous scales on the anterior part of the 
sides, but on the posterior part they are thinly scattered. 
The belly is smooth or finely granulated. These spinous 
scales 0 are simple spines, erected in a backward di- 
rection, just like those of the lateral line 01 . 
a Sometimes, however, with a distinct trace of a dermal fold straight across the isthmus. 
b Even Collett remarked that in Cottus Lilljeborgii the gape is relatively larger and broader than in C. bubalis. 
c “Granular points’’, Malm; “bony protuberances”, Lilljeborg. 
d Cf. the above description (p. 189, note c) of the armour of the lateral line in a specimen of Cottus bubalis from Waideguba. 
