438 



Pareioplitae, or Mailed-cheek Fishes 



with a broad, depressed head, is found in the London Eocene, 

 and various Miocene species have been referred to Scorpana. 

 Sebastodes rosaz is based on a fragment, probably Pleistocene, 

 from Port Harford, California. 



The small family of the Caracanthida consists of little fishes 



FIG. 376. Trachicephalus uranoscopus. Family Scorpccnida;. From 

 Swatow, China. 



of the coral reefs of the Pacific. These are compressed in form, 

 and the skin is rough with small prickles, the head being feebly 

 armed. The species are rare and little known, brown in color 

 with pale spots. 



The Skilfishes: Anoplopomidae. The small family of skil- 

 fishes or Anoplopomida consists of two species found on the 



FIG. 377. Skilfish, Anoplopoma fimbria (Pallas). California. 



coast of California and northward. These resemble the Scor- 

 panidcz, having the usual form of nostrils, and the suborbital 

 stay well developed. The skull is, however, free from spines, 

 the scales are small and close-set, and the sleek, dark- 

 colored body has suggested resemblance to the mackerel or 

 hake. Anoplopoma fimbria, known as skilfish, beshow, or coal- 

 fish, is rather common from Unalaska to Monterey, reaching 

 a length of two feet or more. In the north it becomes very 



