Sehastes variegatus, SP. N. FROM THE NORTHEASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN 



(PISCES, SCORPAENIDAE) 



Jay C. Quast' 



ABSTRACT 



A new scorpaenid fish, Sehastes variegatus, from the Gulf of Alaska is characterized by an elongate 

 body that tapers symmetrically anteriorly and posteriorly; presence of preocular, postocular, tympan- 

 nic, and parietal spines and lack of supraocular, coronal, and (usually) nuchal spines; 18 (rarely 17 

 or 19) rays in the pectoral fin; a second anal fin spine that is longer than the third; black membranes 

 in the spinous dorsal and caudal fins; a dark brown to jet black peritoneum; and a dark blotched 

 pattern on the sides that is interrupted over the posterior 2/3 of the body by an unpigmented band 

 along the lateral line. The known geographic range is from Unimak Pass (Aleutian Islands) to 

 Queen Charlotte Sound (British Columbia). 



On February 28, 1967, the Bureau of Commer- 

 cial Fisheries RV Murre II obtained three 

 specimens of a new species of rockfish from the 

 vicinity of Point McCartney in Frederick Sound, 

 southeastern Alaska. The specimens were cap- 

 tured when a 6-ft-diameter Isaacs-Kidd trawl 

 inadvertently was allowed to touch bottom at 

 135 m. 



The specimens were tentatively identified as 

 Sebastes zacentrus but were not adequately de- 

 scribed by Phillips' (1957) account of this 

 species. In some respects they seemed to be 

 intermediate between S. zacentrus and S. pro- 

 riger. The evidence for an undescribed species 

 became convincing when additional specimens 

 were taken, and the similarity to S. zac.eyitrus 

 and S. proriger was underscored when several 

 more specimens were found in old collections 

 that had been labeled as these species. 



The species is placed in Sebastes Cuvier in 

 concurrence with opinions of numerous authors 

 that northeastern Pacific Sebastodes are con- 

 generic with North Atlantic Sebastes — including 

 Matsubara (1943b: 178); Tsuyuki, Roberts, 

 Lowes, Hadaway, and Westrheim (1968:2494); 

 Eschmeyer (19(59:104); Chen (1969:12); and 

 American Fisheries Society (personal commu- 

 nication with Reeve M. Bailey, University of 

 Michigan, December 1969). 



' National Marine Fisheries Service Biological Lab- 

 oratory, Auke Bay, Alaska 99821. 



The name variegatus refers to the contrasting 

 coloration of most specimens when fresh. Ac- 

 cording to Brown (1956:830), the word means 

 "of different sorts, particularly colors." I sug- 

 gest "harlequin rockfish" as the common name. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



The study utilized 39 specimens of S. varie- 

 gatus and included 35 from the ichthyological 

 collection of the National Marine Fisheries Ser- 

 vice Biological Laboratory at Auke Bay, Alaska, 

 and 3 from the collection at the Institute of An- 

 imal Resource Ecology, University of British 

 Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. This series in- 

 cluded 21 males, 13 females, and 4 of unknown 

 sex, and no important differences were found 

 between the sexes in measurements, counts, or 

 coloration. Measurements on the University of 

 British Columbia specimens were not as com- 

 plete as those from the Auke Bay Laboratory; 

 hence the numerical basis of the morphometric 

 analysis varies by 3, depending on the char- 

 acter. An additional male specimen was used 

 for electrophoretic analysis. 



Methods for counts and measurements are 

 based on Hubbs and Lagler (1949:8-15), with 

 the following exceptions or modifications. In 

 counts: tubed lateral line scales on caudal fin 

 lie after hypurals; tubed scales over hypurals 

 are included in count of tubed lateral line scales 



Manuscript received November 1970. 



FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 69. NO. 2. 1971. 



387 



