116 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS—ZOOLOGY—GENERAL REPORT. 
List of specimens. 
Catal. 
No. 
No. of 
spec. 
Sex and 
age. 
Locality. 
When collected. 
Whence obtained. 
Nature of specimens. 
Collected by— 
691 
i 
Adult Q 
Off San Diego, Cal. 
1849 
Dr. R. K. Stone_ 
Alcoholic_ 
Dr.S.B Blanchard. 
GUNNELLUS, Cuv. 
Gen. Char —Body elongated and very much compressed. Head small and oblong, with an obtuse snout and a mouth but 
moderately cleft. The maxillar teeth are velvet or card-like, disposed upon one row on the lower jaw and upon a double 
on the upper jaw. Velvet-like teeth upon the front of the vomer. Palatine bones and tongue occasionally provided with a 
few prickles. Dorsal fin occupying nearly the whole length of the back, and composed exclusively of spiny rays. Anal fin 
long and low, provided anteriorly with two spines. Caudal fin slender, exteriorly rounded and contiguous to the dorsal and 
anal. Ventral finds rudimentary and inserted under the base of the pectorals. Scales very small; lateral line not perceptible. 
Syn. — Gunnellus, Cuv. Regn. Anim. II, 1817, 252; 2d ed. II, 1829; &, ed. illustr. Poiss. 174.—Cuv. & Val. Hist. nat. 
des Poiss. XI, 1836, 418.— DeKay, New-Y. Faun. IV, 1842, 153.— Storer, Synops. 1846, 120. 
The various species of Gunnells are distributed over a rather wide geographic range, occur¬ 
ring, as they do, on both sides of the Atlantic ocean as well as in the Pacific. 
GUNNELLUS OBNATUS, G r d . 
Plate XXYh, Figs. 6 & 7. 
Spec. Char. —Dorsal and anal fins contiguous to the caudal. Anal spines, two. Ventrals reduced to two exceedingly small 
spines. Head quite small. An occipito ocular dark vitta continued vertically beneath the orbit to the hyoid apparatus. 
Ground color yellowish ; about thirteen dorsal roundish spots of blackish brown, and about eighteen lateral, squarrish ones of 
light brown. 
Syn. —Gunnellus ornatus, Grd. in Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. VII, 1854, 149. 
The body, which is very much compressed, preserves, however, its depth from the thoracic 
region to the origin of the anal fin, hence it gradually diminishes towards the base of the 
caudal. The head is quite small, superiorly convex, anteriorly obtuse, and contained about 
eight times and a half in the total length. The mouth is moderate, its gape slightly oblique 
upwards, and, when closed, the posterior extremity of the maxillary reaches a vertical line 
drawn in advance of the anterior rim of the orbit. The eye is of medium size, circular in 
shape ; its diameter entering five times in the length of the side of the head. The branchial 
apertures are continuous under the throat, and therefore no isthmus is present; the branchios- 
tegals are five on either side, and the membrane not split under the hyoidian apparatus. 
The dorsal and anal fins are very low and contiguous to the base of the caudal. The origin 
of the dorsal corresponds to a vertical line drawn immediately behind the base of the pectorals. 
The caudal is rounded posteriorly. The origin of the anal is equidistant between the base of 
the pectorals and the extremity of the caudal; its rays are articulated or soft, with the exception 
of two situated at its anterior margin. The ventrals are represented each by two small and 
rudimentary spines inserted a little in advance of the base of the pectorals. The latter are 
moderate and fan-shaped. 
Br. Y: Y; D 76; A II, 35; C 2,1, 8, 8, 1, 1; Y n; P 12. 
