X.cn^. 
qjP 
/^z6 L/< 
580 
ACTI^fOPTEl^TGII. 
Bolca, near Verona. [Imperfect fish; Zigno Coll., Uni¬ 
versity of Padua.] 
P ''4 Scorpcenoides popovicii, F. Priem, Bull. Soc. Geol. Francje [3] 
P ^ol. xxvii. (ISOO^ p. 248, pi. ii. figs. 27-30.—Eocene; 
^ Yalea Caselor, Jalomitza, Boumania. [Imperfect fish.] 
Scorpcenopterus siluridens, F. Steindachner, Sitzungsb. k. Akad. 
Wiss., math.-naturw. Cl. vol. xxxvii. (1859), p. 694, 
pis. ii.-iv., pi. V. fig. I. — Upper Miocene; Hernals, 
Vienna. [The type species. Detached bones; Court 
Museum, Vienna."! 
/i-/ 
Family OOTTIDAl. 
Head usually broad and depressed, with narrow interorbital 
region; mouth terminal, with minute teeth. Vertebrae 24 to 50 
in total number, most of those of abdominal region with small 
transverse processes, but ribs attached to centra behind these. 
Post-temporal bone free from cranium, and supraclavicle normal. 
Large pectoral fins, with pelvic fins directly beneath; extended 
dorsal fin usually subdivided into two parts, the anterior consisting 
of 6 to 18 slender spines ; anal fin without spines. Trunk covered 
with a regular squamation or small prickles or naked. 
Small littoral fishes, almost universally distributed, sometimes 
occurring in freshwater. The only two known extinct genera have 
a regular squamation. 
Descriptions and figures of the skeleton of existing Cottidae are 
given by C. Girard, ‘A Monograph of the Cottoids,’ Smithson. 
Contrib. vol. hi. art. no. 3 (1850). 
Genus EOCOTTUS, novum. 
Preoperculum with large antrorse spines on lower limb. Vertebrae 
about 10 in the abdominal, 14 in the caudal region. Pectoral fins 
very delicate; pelvic fins relatively large, with one slender spine 
and 5 articulated rays ; dorsal fins continuous, the anterior portion 
comprising about 8 relatively short spines ; anal fin with 8 to 10 
rays; caudal fin rounded. Small scales completely covering trunk. 
An extinct genus known only by one species from the marine 
Upper Eocene of Italy. According to Heckel (Sitzungsb. k. Akad. 
AY iss., math.-naturw. Cl. vol. ii. 1850, p. 148), this species is 
closely related to Callipteryx ; but it is distinguished from that 
genus by the presence of scales and the short and stout form of 
the neural arches in the abdominal region. 
