ON THE CRANIAL CHARACTERS OF THE GENUS 

 SEBASTODES (ROCK-FISH).* 



(With Plates lvii-lxx.) 

 BY FRANK CRAMER. 



The rock -fishes of the Pacific, commonly but errone- 

 ously called " rock -cod,", constitute a large section of 

 the Scorpaenida?, a family of the mail-cheeked fishes, and 

 present extremely interesting problems in distribution and 

 classification. Fifty or more species have been described 

 during the past forty years from the west coast of North 

 America, between the southern boundary of the United 

 States and Bering Strait. Quite a large number of spe- 

 cies also, distinct from the foregoing, have been discovered 

 on the coast of Japan, and all the indications point to 

 many more that are still undescribed. To the southward 

 of the United States the group abruptly disappears, but 

 reappears again in the temperate and cold waters of west- 

 ern South America, which undoubtedly still hold out a 

 rich field for investigation of this group. 



The rock-fishes of American waters are characterized 

 by having 13 dorsal spines, while their nearest allies, the 

 rose-fishes ( Sebastes), have a larger number. Some of 

 the Japanese forms, however, are described as varying in 

 the number of dorsal spines from 13 to 14. If this is so, 

 the further study of the rock-fishes of the Japanese coast 

 will furnish new and interesting material upon which to 

 base the systematic arrangement of the group, for no 

 such variation is found in all the fifty or more species of 

 the western coast of North America. 



* I wish to thank Prof. Charles H. Gilbert for putting at my disposal 

 the material on which this paper is based, and for generously sacrificing 

 ■ valuable specimens, in order that the series might be made as complete as 

 possible. The collection of skulls is now in the Museum of the Leland 

 Stanford Jr. University. 



Proc. Cal. Acad. Sol, 2d Ser., Vol. V. October 1, 1895. 



