CAPE VERDE ISLANDS 7 



which has been included in the above description. This species is very close to S. 

 senegalensis, Steindachner/ of which I have examined a single specimen from the Gold 

 Coast, 280 mm. in total length. The Cape Verde species appears to have a shorter, 

 deeper head, with a somewhat shorter snout, and the spines on the head are generally 

 stouter and less acute. The supraorbital tentacle is smaller and less branched, the 

 pectoral fin is a little shorter, and there are minor differences in the coloration. Fowler ^ 

 has given a detailed description of a specimen, 295 mm. in length, from the Cape 

 Verde Islands, identified by him as S. senegalensis, but it seems probable that his fish 

 is referable to S. laevis. Both species are readily distinguished from S. porcus, Linn., 

 S. scrofa, Linn., and S. tisttilata, Lowe, by the smooth scales, scaly breast, and other 



Fig. I . Scorpaena laevis. 



X 5. 



characters. S. plumieri, Bloch, from the Atlantic coast of tropical America, is closely 

 related to S. laevis and S. senegalensis, but has the axil of the pectoral fin jet black with 

 a few pure white spots, and there are other differences in coloration. Further, the eye 

 is somewhat smaller and the spinous dorsal fin lower. 



DACTYLOPTERIDAE 



Dactylopterus volitans (Linn.). 



St Vincent. 2. ix. 27. Hand line: i specimen, 300 mm. 



WEST AFRICA 



Fishes were obtained from five stations, three off the coast of Angola, one off the 

 French Congo, and one off Annobon, Gulf of Guinea. None of the specimens are 

 from a depth of more than 100 m. Altogether nearly 300 specimens were collected 

 from these stations, representing about 50 species, of which 9 have proved to be new 

 to science. 



1 1881, Denkschr. Akad. Wiss. Wien, XLiv, p. 31, pi. iv. 



- 1919, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., LVi, p. 214. 



