The cunner, Tautogolabrus adspersus (Walbaum), also known as the chogset or bergall, is commonly found around wharves and docks and on rocky bottoms along the northeastern coast of North America. It is distributed from Newfoundland southward to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, with a major center of abundance in the Massachusetts Bay area. In these northern waters, cunners are most numerous in shallow inshore areas, although they are frequently taken near wrecks and shoals up to 30 miles at sea. There is little evidence in support of seasonal migration patterns and individuals remain near their areas during their formative years. At one time, the cunner was a favorite fish of New England anglers. During the 1880's between 200,000 and 300,000 pounds of cunner were taken in the New England commercial harvest. However, since the turn of the century, commercial catches have been negligible because of poor demand.

This comprehensive new book replaces and substantially expands upon the landmark Fishes of Arizona, which has been the authoritative source since it was first published in 1973. Inland Fishes of the Greater Southwest is a one-volume guide to native and non-native fishes of the lower Colorado River basin, downstream from the Grand Canyon, and of the northern tributaries of the Sea of Cortez in the United States and Mexico. In all, there are in-depth accounts of more than 165 species representing 30 families. The book is not limited to the fish. It provides insights into their aquatic world with information on topography, drainage relations, climate, geology, vegetational history, aquatic habitats, human-made water systems, and conservation. A section of the book is devoted to fish identification, with keys to native and non-native families as well as family keys to species. The book is illustrated with more than 120 black-and-white illustrations, 47 full-color plates of native fishes, and nearly 40 maps and figures. Many native fish species are unique to the Southwest. They possess interesting and unusual adaptations to the challenges of the region, able to survive silt-laden floods as well as extreme water temperatures and highly fluctuating water flows ranging from very low levels to flash floods. However, in spite of being well-adapted, many of the fish described here are threatened or endangered, often due to the acts of humans who have altered the natural habitat. For that reason, Inland Fishes of the Greater Southwest presents a vast amount of information about the ecological relationships between the fishes it describes and their environments, paying particular attention to the ways in which human interactions have modified aquatic ecosystemsÑand to how humans might work to ensure the survival of rapidly disappearing native species.

Objectives of the paper are to provide dichotomous keys for the identification of ophidiiform genera. For each genus a brief account is presented including synonymy, a short diagnosis, a list of species, distribution, references, when possible comments on relationships, and for most an outline drawing. The genera are organized into an hierarchical classification which divides them into two suborders, Ophidioidei, which contains oviparous fishes with a high anterior nostril, and Bythitoidei which contains viviparous fishes with a low anterior nostril. Ophidioidei is divided into two families. Carapidae, with a vexillifer larval stage, has two subfamilies: Pyramodontinae with two genera and Carapinae with four. Ophidiidae has four subfamilies: Brotulinae, with a single genus; Brotulotaeniinae (new family) with a single genus; Ophidiinae, the cusk eels, with eight genera in two tribes; and Neobythitinae, with 38 genera (Epetriodus and Spottobrotula are new genera based on new species from the Indian Ocean) in two tribes. Bythitoidei contains two families, one of which, Aphyonidae has five genera characterized by many neotenic features. Bythitidae is divided into the free-tailed Brosmophycinae with 13 genera in two tribes and Bythitinae with 15 genera.