106. SCORP^ENID^E SCORP^ENA. 679 



a. Cheeks, opercles, breast, and usually top of head scaly; uo pit at the occiput; 



aspect of Sebastodes. (Pontinus* Poey. ) 

 &. Dermal flaps none ; pectoral fin not procurrent ; no exoccipital spines. 



1035. S. dactyloptera De la Roche. 



Color delicate scarlet red, the opercle and dorsal fin somewhat 

 mottled with brownish. Body not much elevated, little compressed, 

 the tail slender. Head large, little compressed ; cheeks, opercles, and 

 occipital region well scaled; no dermal flaps anywhere; suborbital stay 

 strong. Mouth rather large, with teeth as usual on jaws, vomer, and 

 palatines; lower jaw not projecting; maxillary extending to beyond 

 pupil. Suborbital with a narrow raised smooth ridge, which ends in a 

 spine at the base of the stay ; preorbital narrow, its edge slightly spi- 

 nous; interorbital space narrow, with two parallel raised ridges and a 

 deep groove. Cranial ridges short, sharp, about as in Sebastodes rosa- 

 ccus; preocular, supraocular, postocular, tympanic, occipital, and nu- 

 chal spines present; suprascapular spines sharp; no exoccipitals; oper- 

 cular spines moderate ; preopercular spines sharp, the second longest. 

 Eye very large, 3 in head. Jaws naked. Gill-rakers rather long and 

 slender. Pectoral very narrow for a Scorpccna^ the rays not procurrent 

 below nor thickened, reaching anal; ventrals small, reaching past vent; 

 anal small and low, its second spine a little stouter but not longer than 

 third; dorsal low, little emarginate, the spines slender. Scales ctenoid, 

 regularly arranged; no accessory scales. Head 3-J-; depth 2f. D. XII 

 12; A. Ill, 5; Lat. 1. 43. Deep water off Chesapeake Bay; described 

 from a specimen lately taken by the U. S. Fish Commission. It is pro- 

 visionally identified with 8. dactyloptera, of the Mediterranean and Ma- 

 deira Islands, but it is probably a species distinct from the latter, 

 although closely related. 



(De la Roche, Ann. Mus. xiii, 1809, pi. 22, f. 2: Sebastes dactylopterus Gunther, ii, 

 99: Sebastes imperialis C. & V. iv, 336.) 



aa. Cheeks, opercles, and top of head naked; dermal flaps present; pectorals pro- 

 current, a quadrate pit at the occiput. (Scorpcena.) 

 c. Breast scaly. (Parascorpaina Bleeker.) 



1036. S. Sjasttsitsi Grd. Scorpene; Scorpion; Sculpin. 



Brown, irregularly mottled and blotched with rosy purplish and pale 

 olive ; opercles and cheeks, a bar behind eye, and 5 or 6 large blotches 

 at base of dorsal, purplish; head, back, and sides with many small 



* Poey, Memorias Cuba, ii, 172, 1860 : type Pontinus castor Poey. (Latin, pons, bridge ; 

 "si 1'idee d'un pout forme" par les trois premiers sous-orbitaires pent conteuter les 

 tymo],ogi8tes j'eu serai bieu aise; j'ai deja dit que les iiorns les plus savants ne soiit 

 pas les meillenrs." Poey.) 



