Description of a new genus and species of Cittidae

(1)

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 141

tus in thefewer raysindorsal

and

anal

and

in thetricuspidteeth.

The

usualcolor isalsodifferent.

The

type specimens have been presented to the National

Museum,

and theyare

numbered

28,396 on the

Museum

Eegister.

The

largest measured If ^inches.

Table of Measurements.

Locality SanDiego, Cal.

Dimensions.

Extremelength

Lengthtobaseofcaudalfin

Body

:

Greatestheight Greatest width Least heightoftail

Lengthofcaudalpeduncle

—

Head

:

Greatest lensth Greatestwidth

Widthof interorbital area Lengthofsnout Diameterof orbit Dorsal

:

Distancefrom snout Lengthofbase ,

Anal

:

Distance fromsnout Lengthofbase ,

Caudal:

Lengthofmiddle rays Pectoral

:

Distancefrom snout Length

Anteriormarginofventral disk

:

Distancefrom snout Length

Dorsal Anal

G.rhessodon.

Inches and lOOths.

1.40 1.20

lOOths of length.

G.reticulatus.

Inches and lOOths.

2.50 2.05

lOOths of length.

22.5

18 34.5

SanDiego,Cal.,January15,1881.

DESCRIPTIOIV OF A

^IVEVT

GENUS AND SPECIES OF

COTTID^IE.

By

TV. N.

LOCKI^GTON.

Chitonotusgen. nov.

Alliedto Artedius Girard.

Anal

papilla of males excessively developed,

and

terminating in a narrower crescentic portion, from which springs a long tubular fila-

ment. First dorsalincompletelydividedinto

two

portions,the anterior theshorter. Lateralline

armed

with aseriesof keeled scales, toothed onkeeland onhindermargin. Entire upper portion of body, save a narrowareaalong the baseofthedorsalfin,covered with small strongly ctenoid scales. Othercharactersas in Artedius.

Type

Chitonotusmega- cephalus Lockington.

Thisgenusis instituted forthe reception of Artediuspugettensis Stein- dachner(Ichthyol. BeitriigeV. 133)

and

of the species here described.

(2)

142 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

Chitonotusmegacephalus.

D.Ill,

VII

I

15-10. A. ^15-16. C. 9

I 11

I

9. P. 18. V. I | 3.

Body

deepest underoriginoffirst dorsal, thence decreasing regularly tothe caudal peduncle, whichatitsnarrowest partisabouttwo-sevenths of the greatestdepth. Hinderpart ofheadalmostquadrangularin sec- tion, compressed, thecompressionincreasingfrom the eyes forward.

Head

3rj-S^^; greatest depth _6f times in total length. Greatest width at gill-covers slightlylessthan greatestdepth.

Eyes

large, oval, about3| timesⁱⁿ length of side of head, their lon- gitudinaldiameterexceeding the length of the snout

by

about five- twelfths; the hindermargin of the orbit rather nearer the tip of the operculum than that of thesnout,

and

the interorbital space verynar- row, sothatthe eyes are directed obliquelyupwards.

Upper jaw

slightlylongerthan the lower, which is received within

it_; posteriorextremity of maxillaryslightly in front of or beneath the posterior orbital margin. Teeth inbothjaws villiform, sharp,uniform, in alongbut notwide band. Intermaxillaries protractile downwards.

Snout convex longitudinally

and

transversely.

Nostrilswith

membranous

tubes; theanteriorlateral,inalinebetween the centre of the eye

and

thetip of theupper

jaw

; the posterior in a concavity between the extremitiesofthe ascending processes of thepre- maxillaries

and

the raised anteriorupper orbital margin. Nasal tentacles longbut narrow, situated abovethe anterior nostril

and

just in frontofthe sharp, backward-directed nasal spine.

Eye

tentacles similar tonasaltentacle.

Four

preopercular spines; theupperlongest, with^2-4 prongson its

upper side besides the tip; second horizontal; third directed downwards;lowest directed

downwards

andforwards.

Operculum

unarmed,its

membranous

tip verticalwith thefirstray of the second halfofthe first dorsal.

An

inner

and

outer pair of spines behind each eyeon top of head, outer spines the larger. Posterior to these spines a shortridge, endingin a backward-directed spineon back ofhead.

Area between

these spines

somewhat

concave transversely.

Suborbital ring

and

stay narrow.

Origin offirst dorsalover the

commencement

of the free horizontal upi)er borderofthe operculum. First ray nearly equal in height to the lengthof thehead,second about two-thirdsas long, third shorter than fourth, a7idseparated

from

^itby an interspace twiceas long asthe others, the

membrane

betweenthese raysalsodeeply notched. Fifth

and

sixth rays longerthanthe fourth orthan the followingrays,whichgradually diminish, giving theupijermargin ofthesecond part of the spinousdor- sal arounded outline. Central rays of seconddorsal abouthalf aslong as the head.

Anal

similar tosecond dorsal.

Pectoralfanlike,itsbasevery oblique, parallel with the hinder margin of the operculum, its longestrays about equal tofour-fifthsof the

(3)

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 143

head

and

reachingbackwardstothesecondanal ray.

Lower

rays very short.

Middleray of ventral rather longerthanthefirst,considerably longer than the third,

and

reachingto the base of the anal papilla. All the rays ofthe precedingfins simple.

Caudalnearlystraight onitsposteriorborder,the

two

outerprincipal rays simple,the remainingnine oncebifurcate. Accessoryraysnumer- ous.

Upper

part of head

and body

covered with strongly ctenoid scales, except a narrowline along each sideof dorsal.

The

scales of lateral line (about39)

more

thantwice aslong

and

deep as those above them, ctenoidonhinder margin,

and

with a toothed keel neartheirupper mar-

gin.

Lower

portion of

body

scaleless.

Gill-openings continuous; the

membrane

emarginate, notattachedto the isthmus. Branchiostegals six.

Males with a long anal papilla, ending ina crescentic stiff, tapering portion, from the upper sideofwhich, nearits tip, springs a long tubu- larfilament.

Color of upper part of

body

reddish

brown

or gray, with obscure darker transverse bands. Fins dark olivaceous in recent examples, darkest towardthe margins, thepectorals near base

and

the sides of thehead greenish, thickly dotted withblack. In

some

the dorsal

and

analarelighter.

Ihave only seen adult males.

Thisspecies

was

first found in the markets of

San

Franciscoin the

summer

of 1879, and

was

noticed

by me

inapaperpublishedintheMin- ing

and

Scientific Press ofthat city, 1879, inthe followingterms

:

"

Some months

agoI wrotefor publicationadescription ofa smallscul- pinwhich I

named

Chitonotus megacephalus, the large-headed mailed- back. ^* ^* ^* IfindthatDr. Steiudachnerhasgotaheadofme,

and

has described the

same

fishfrom specimens obtained in

Puget

Sound.

He

alsogives afigure.

From

thisfigureIjudgethattheform

and

pro- portionsofthedorsalfin varyconsiderably. In

my

^specimens thefirst

spineisexceedingly long, thethird quite short,shorterthanthefourth, and as thesespines aretwice asdistantfrom each other as are any of theothers,

and

the

membrane

between

them

dips

down

almostto its base,the fin is practicallydivided in two. Dr. Steindachner's figure shows only aslight emarginationofthe fin, the first spine onlyslightly longer thantheothers,

and

the spines equidistant."

Professor Jordan,

who

hashandled

numerous

examples from

Puget

Sound, informs

me

that theyagreeinevery respect with thefiguregiven

by

Steiudachner,

and

thathe has no doubt of the distinctness of the Californian type. In his descriptionDr. Steiudachnermentionsthe di- vision ofthedorsalin terms that lead

me

to suspect that he possessed both types.

(4)

144 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

The name

megacephalus, sinceithasbeenpublishedalongwith adiag- nosis ofits leading points ofdifferencefrom C.pugettensis,must, Ipre- sume, beretained, instead of a

more

expressive term which might be

drawn

from theform ofthe dorsal fins.

C. megacephalusistolerably abundantin moderatelydeep water out- side the

Bay

of

San

Francisco. Specimens

numbered

27185 arein the l!fational

Museum.

DEf^flJRIPTlOIVS

OF NEW^ FISHES FROM AL.ASKA AND 8IUERIA.

BY TARI.ETON

H.

BEAN.

Most

ofthe specieshere describedwereobtained forthe UnitedStates National

Museum

^duringthe

summer

of1880, through the assistanceof theUnited StatesCoast Survey^schooner

Yukon, whose

party thewriter

was

permitted to

accompany

forthepurposeof

making

collections,

more

particularly of fishes

and

fishery statistics, inAlaska. Itwould have been difficult, ifnotimpossible, to secure sovaluable acollectionof the fishesin anyother way, the

Yukon

having called at

numerous

ports along themajor portion of the Alaskan coast aswell as atPloverBay, Siberia, where several species not elsewherefound were taken.

The

whole

number

^of speciestaken is above 80,

and

itis due to the Super- intendent of the UnitedStates Coast Survey

and

to Mr.

W. H

Dall to say that theirgenerous help has

made

thisresult possible.

Inthis article,

which

issimply preliminarytoadetailedaccount, short notices only are given offishes which are to be

more

fully described hereafter.

Lycodes ^coccineus^n. ^s.

Museum

Catalogue

number

27748^; collector's

number

(1712).

Big

Diomede

Island, September10, 1880.

Br.

VI

; D.including half of caudal 87^; A.including half of caudal 69^; P. 18; V.3. Posterior two-thirds oftail covered withscales which arenotin contact. Fins

and

allparts of the

body and

head scaleless.

The

total length of the typical specimen initsfresh state

was

19.7 inches (484 millimeters). In its present state of preservation it has shrunk to 475millimeters.

The

species resembles L.mucosus Rich., but

may

be readilydistin- guished

by

^its

more

extensive squamatiou, shorter

and

deeper head, stouter ^tail,

more

advanced position of ventrals

and

vent, and

by

its coloration; L. mucosus,too,has alateral line consisting ofrounded open pores,while L. coccineus has simplya few^faint, short linear scratches which arealmost imperceptible tothe eye. Thesetracesareseen only onthat portion of the skin which hasscales.

The

greatest height of the

body

isalittleless thanhalf thelengthof the head, which constitutes nearly one-fourth of thetotallength.

The

pectoralis twice as longas the intermaxillary

and

terminates ata dis-