t 

 106. SCORP/ENIDJE - SEBASTODES. 659 



covered with ctenoid scales. Dorsal fin low, not deeply emarginate, the 

 membrane joining the thirteenth spine near its middle; soft dorsal low, 

 higher than the spines, the longest spine as long as maxillary, a little 

 less than half head; caudal ernarginate; anal low, its second spine 

 stronger, but not longer than the third, f the height of the soft rays, 

 2.V in head ; pectorals rather short, reaching beyond tips of ventrals to 

 vent. Gill-rakers numerous, very long and slender, nearly as long as 

 the eye. Peritoneum black. Head 3J; depth 3^; pectorals 3|. 1). 

 XIII-15; A. Ill, 8; Lat. 1. GO. Coast of Alaska; not noticed south of 

 Kodiak. 



(Epinephelu-8 ciliatus Tiles. Mem. Ac. Sci. St. Petersb. iy, 474, 1810: Pcrca varidblUs 

 Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. iii, 241, 1811: Scbastes rariabilis Cnv. & Val. iv, 347: Se- 

 bastes variabilis Giiiither, ii, 99.) 



1O12. S. MiystiBlBBS JOT. & Gil\).P<?che Pretrc; Black Rock-fish. 



Slaty black, becoming paler below the lateral line; sides more 

 or less mottled; tip of lower jaw black; top of head with 3 indistinct 

 cross-bars, extending on the- cheeks; a dark bar on anterior edge of 

 opercle; fins all plain dusky. Body oval-oblong, compressed, both out- 

 lines evenly curved. Head rather blunt, compressed; profile oblique, 

 almost straight, becoming convex with age. Mouth smaller than in 

 any of the preceding species, oblique, the lower jaw protruding; pre- 

 maxillaries on the level of lower rim of orbit; maxillaries dilated be- 

 hind, reaching posterior margin of pupil, thickly scaled behind, their 

 length 2^ in head. Cranial ridges obsolete, except the preocular, which 

 usually ends in a small spine; the region between and in front of the' 

 eyes bulging considerably; preopercle with rather strong spines, the 

 two at the angle longest; opercular spines rather strong. Spinous 

 dorsal very low, the longest spines 2 in head, lower than the soft rays, 

 the fin rather deeply emarginate; second anal spine stronger than 

 third, and a little shorter, 3J in head; pectoral fins long, about as long 

 as head, their middle rays longest, reaching beyond the ventrals to 

 about the tenth dorsal spine; caudal emargiuate. Peritoneum black. 

 Head 3; depth 2f; pectorals 3. D. XIII-15; A. Ill, 9; Lat. 1. GO 

 (50-35 tubes). L. 14 inches. Puget Sound to San Diego; the most 

 abundant species of the family about San Francisco; found in rather 

 shallow water. 



(Scbastichthys mystinus Jordan & Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1880, 455; 1881, 56, 

 70.) 



S. eiifomelas Jor. & Gilb. 

 Dull olive-green; sides with obscure, round, rusty spots; belly, lips, 

 and lower parts tinged with creamy; obscure light and dark shades 



