24 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



II. Diameter of eye 3f to 4 in head (in specimens of 63 and 103 mm.); 3 pairs of spines on 



occipital region; body mottled with dark brown ... ... ... ... inicrophthalmus. 



Helicolenus dactylopterus (Delaroche). 



? Scorpaena malabarica, Schneider, 1801, in Bloch, Syst. Ichth., p. 194. 



Scorpaena dactyloptera, Delaroche, 1809, Ann. Mus. H.N. (Paris), xiii (77), p. 337, pi. xxii, 



fig. 9; Risso, iSio, Ichth. Nice, p. 186; Risso, 1826, Hist. Nat. Europ. Merid., in, p. 369; 



Smitt, 1893, Scand. Fish., i, p. 154, fig. 43; Holt and Calderwood, 1895, Sci. Trans. R. 



Dublin Soc. (2) v, p. 409, pi. xlii, fig. i ; Holt and Byrne, 1908, Fisheries Ireland Sci. Invest., 



1906, V, p. 9, pi. i; Duncker, 1927, in Grimpe and Wagler, Tierwelt Nord- u. Ostsee, Lief. 



X, Teil XX, Heft 2, p. 4, fig. 2. 

 Sebastes imperialis, Cuvier, 1829, R. Anim., ed. 2, 11, p. 167; Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1829, 



Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, p. 336; Lowe, 1839, Trans. Zool. Soc, 11 (3), p. 175; Lowe, i860, 



Hist. Fish. Madeira, p. 171, pi. xxiv. 

 Sebastes kuhlii, Valenciennes, 1843, in Webb and Berthelot, Canaries {Ichth.), pi. ii, fig. i. 

 Sebastes dactylopterus, Giinther, i860. Cat. Fish., 11, p. 99; Moreau, 1881, H.N. Poiss. France, 



II, p. 317, fig. 117; Steindachner and Doderlein, 1885, Denkschr. Akad. Wiss. Wien, XLix, 



p. 201 {S. hilgendorfi, Doderlein MS.]; Carus, 1889-93, Pi'odr. Faun. Medit., 11, p. 638; 



Collett, 1896, Res. Camp. Sci. Monaco, x, p. 12; Roule, 1907, Arch. Zool. exper. gen., 



(4) VI, Notes et Revue, p. xv; Jaquet, 1907, Bull. Inst, ocean. Monaco, cix. 

 Helicolenus dactylopterus (part), Goode and Bean, 1895, Ocean. Ichth., p. 249. 

 Scorpaena {Helicolenus) dactyloptera, Fage, 1918, Rep. Danish Ocean. Exped. 1908-10, 11, A 3, 



p. 102. 



Depth of body 2y to 3^ in the length, length of head 2| to 2|. Snout shorter than 

 eye, diameter of which is af to 4 in length of head and 2 to 2I times interorbital width. 

 Praeorbital spines feeble; suborbital ridge generally smooth, but sometimes a very 

 small spine below posterior edge of eye; 5 praeopercular spines; a spine above the 

 front of each orbit and 3 or 4 above its posterior angle ; one or two pairs of spines on 

 the occipital region. Maxillary with a patch of scales in the centre. Gill-rakers of 

 moderate length, the longest j to | diameter of eye; 16 to 18 on lower part of anterior 

 arch. Scales spinulose and ciliated; about 5 series between last soft-ray of dorsal and 

 lateral line; breast scaled. Dorsal XII (occasionally XIII) 12 (-14); third or fourth 

 spines generallv longest, 2^ to nearly 3 (large specimens) in length of head. Anal 

 III 5. Pectoral with 19 rays, the 2 uppermost simple, the next 8 or 9 branched, and the 

 lowermost 8 or 9 simple and sometimes somewhat thickened; fin extending to above 

 vent or a little beyond. Pale yellowish brown (red or pinkish in life), paler below; 

 sometimes with some dark markings forming irregular bars on upper parts of sides, 

 generally more prominent in the young; pharynx blackish or dark brown. ^ 



Hab. Mediterranean and adjacent parts of the Atlantic, northwards to Scandinavia, 

 southwards to the Cape Verde Islands; Azores; Japan (?). 



In the British Museum numerous specimens, 115-230 mm. in total length. 



There are 4 specimens from Japan in the British Museum collection, 145-230 mm. 

 in total length, but all are in somewhat poor condition. After careful comparison I 

 am unable to detect any important differences between these specimens and some of 



1 For a detailed account of the variation in the coloration of this species see Holt and Byrne (1908). 



