WEST AFRICA 21 



Key to the Genera 



I. 30 to 31 vertebrae; dorsal with 15 spines, anal with 7 or 8 soft-rays; spines on upper surface 

 of head feeble; no distinct suborbital ridge; interorbital space flat; head densely 

 scaled; pectoral with narrow base, some of its rays branched ... ... Sebastes. 



II. 24 to 26 vertebrae; dorsal with 11 to 13 spines, anal with 5 soft-rays; a more or less 

 distinct suborbital ridge, generally armed with spines. 



A. Dorsal continuous, though somewhat notched, the penultimate spine at least I as long 

 as the last; second anal spine generally longer than third; interorbital space always 

 more or less concave, its width less than diameter of eye. 



1. Dorsal with 13 spines; palatines without teeth ... ... ... Scorpaenodes. 



2. Dorsal with 12 (occasionally 11 or 13) spines; palatines with teeth. 



a. Pectoral with all the rays simple, and with narrow base; 13 or 14 gill-rakers on 

 lower part of anterior arch; head more or less scaled ... ... Pontinus. 



b. Pectoral with some of the rays branched (except in very young), and with broad 

 base. 



a. Gill-rakers of moderate length, 16 to 22 on lower part of anterior arch; lower 

 rays of pectoral free from membrane for at least -3- of their length, and upper 

 part of hinder edge of fin truncate ; suborbital ridge smooth or with one small 

 spine. Helicolenus. 



fi. Gill-rakers rather short and stout, 9 to 12 on lower part of anterior arch; lower 

 rays of pectoral free from membrane only at their tips, and hinder edge of fin 

 evenly rounded; suborbital ridge generally armed with spines Scorpaena. 



B. Dorsal deeply notched, the penultimate spine only about 3 as long as the last; second 

 anal spine much shorter than third; interorbital space flat, its width greater than 

 diameter of eye ; pectoral with 20 or more rays, some of them branched ; dorsal with 



12 spines; lateral line a naked groove with prominent tubes ... ... Setarches. 



Genus Sebastes, Cuvier 



1829, R. Anim., ed. 2, n, p. 166. Type Perca norvegica, Ascan. 



Eusebastes, Sauvage, 1878, Nouv. Arch. Mus. H.N. Paris (2) i, p. 115. Type Sebastes septen- 

 trionalis, Gaimard. 



As now restricted, this genus includes only two species in the North Atlantic: S. 

 marimis (Linn.) and S. viviparus, Kr^yer. These have been regarded by many authors 

 as identical, but, according to Swenander,i Jensen,"^ Duncker,^ Saemundsson'' and others, 

 the species are valid. 



Genus Scorpaenodes, Bleeker 



1857, Nat. Tijdschr. Ned.-Ind., xni, p. 371 ; 1876, Versl. Akad. Wet. Amsterdam (2) ix, p. 296. 

 Type Scorpaena polylepis, Bleeker. 



Scorpaenodes africanus, PfafF. 



1933, Vid. Medd. Dansk not. For., xciv, p. 311, fig. 13. 

 Hab. Senegal. 

 Known only from the holotype, 65 mm. in total length, from Dakar. 



1 1906, Kgl. Norske Vidensk. Selsk. Skr. (1905), No. 9, p. 7. 



2 1922, Vid. Medd. nat. For. Kjobenhavn, lxxiv, p. 105. 



3 1927, in Grimpe and Wagler, Tierwelt Nord- u. Ostsee, Lief, x. Tail xii. Heft 2, p. 2. 

 * 1932, in Joubin, Faun. Ichth. Atlant. Nord, x, figs. 



