107 (). COTTID.E HEMITEIPTEEUS. 685 



361. HEUIITRIPTERUS Cuvicr. 

 Sea Ravens. 



(Cnvier, Regne. Anim. ii, 1829, eel. 2: type Hemitrlpterus americanus C. & V.) 



Body moderately elongate, scaleless, but the skin covered with prickles 

 and bony protuberances of various sizes and forms. Head large, with 

 numerous bony humps and ridges and fleshy slips above; orbital rim 

 much elevated, the iuterorbital space deeply concave; a depressed 

 area at the occiput, behind which are two blunt spines on each side. 

 Mouth very wide; jaws, vomer, and palatines with broad bands of 

 teeth; no slit behind last gill; gill- membranes broadly united, free 

 from the isthmus; preopercle with stout, blunt spines; suborbital stay 

 very strong, forming a sharp ridge. Spinous dorsal much longer than 

 the soft part, of 15 to 18 spines, of which the first two are the highest, 

 and the fourth and fifth shorter than the succeeding ones, the fin thus 

 deeply emargiuate; pectoral fins very broad, much procurrent; veu- 

 trals I, 3. Large fishes of singular appearance, inhabiting the North 

 Atlantic and Pacific. (^//.T, half; r/>c?, three; Trre/x)^, fin.) 



1O1O. If. asnericaiaass (Ginelin) Cuv. & Val. Sea Raven. 



Reddish brown, marbled with darker brown, and much variegated; 

 yellowish below ; fins variegated with light and dark. Body villous, 

 the prickles enlarged and tubercle-like along back and lateral Hue; 

 nasal spines strong; supraocular ridge much elevated, with dermal 

 flaps and two blunt spines; two pairs of fleshy slips on nasal bones, 

 and two on supraocular ridges; smaller cirri on maxillary, on preor- 

 bital, and several on lower jaw; interocular space very deeply concave; 

 two blunt occipital spines on each side, outside of which are two or 

 three others; opercle small, with a bony ridge; preopercle with two 

 blunt spines, below which are one or two others; lower jaw slightly 

 projecting; maxillary reaching beyond eye, about half head; pectorals 

 nearly reaching anal; highest dorsal spine If in length of head, as 

 long as caudal; ventrals reaching half way to anal. Head 2f ; depth 

 3|. D. IV, XII-I, 12; A. 13; Lat. 1. 40. Atlantic coast of America; 

 chiefly northward from Cape Cod. 



(Scorpcena americana Grnel. Syst. Nat. 1788, 1220: Cotfus acadian Walbaum, Artedi 

 Pise. 1792, 392; Cuv. & Val. iv, 268; Guntlier, ii, 143: Hemilripterus acadianus Storer, 

 Hist. Fish. Mass. 35.) 



