1440 Bulletin //, United States National Musejim. 



(J. Pectoral fin long, 1,\ iu Lead ; body deep, compressed ; head short, 

 deep, more compressed tban in related species, tlie interor- 

 bital space Jess depressed, its width SJ in head, the supra- 

 ocular ridges less prominent. D. XI-I, 19. STELLIFER, 1824. 

 gg. Pectoral fiu short, about Ig in head ; interorbital space 3 in 

 head ; second anal spine 2^ ; body rather slender ; snout as 

 long as eye, 4^ in head; mouth moderate, oblique, the max- 

 illary not quite ^ lengtli of head, extending just past pupil. 



D. XI-I, 20 to 23. LANCEOLATUS, 1825. 



/. Preopercle with numerous short, straight spinules, which decrease 

 in size regularly from angle upward ; moutli terminal, the max- 

 illary 2§ in head; head extremely spongy, pectorals IJ in head. 

 D. XII-I, 23 or 24. eeicymba, 1826. 



ee. Mouth small, inferior, nearly horizontal, the maxillary 3 to 3J in head; 

 snout thick, blunt, and protuberent; eye small, 5 to 6 in head ; teeth 

 on preopercle suhequal; preorbital thick and swollen, much broader 

 than eye; body moderately elongate. D. X-I, 19. microps, 1827. 

 Stellicarens (Stella, star; earens, lacking): 

 III. Preopercle without bony serra;, or with a single somewhat flexible point. 

 D. X 11-19; mouth large, oblique; head narrow, very spongy; pec- 

 torals lA in head. zestocarus, 1828. 



Subgenus ZESTIS, Gilbert. 

 1821. STELLIFEU OSCITAXS (Jordan & Gilbert). 



Head 3^; depth 3; eye 4f in head; snout 4|. D. XI-I, 22; A. II, 8; 

 scales 6-53-9, 47 pores. Body oblong, the back somewhat elevated ; head 

 very wide and heavy, almost quadrate, flat above; cheeks nearly vertical; 

 cranium above, as well as preorbital and preopercle, cavernous, yielding 

 to the touch; snout heavy, projecting a little beyond premaxillaries, 

 much broader than long, its length 4 in head; interorbital space very 

 broad and flat, its breadth 2| times iu length of head; greatest width of 

 head f its greatest height; eye moderate, its diameter equal to A the 

 interorbital space; supraorbital rim slightly elevated. 



Mouth very wide and oblique, the lower jaw included; length of gape 

 twice in length of head; premaxillaries anteriorly on the level of the 

 lower part of pupil; maxillary reaching well beyond the posterior margin 

 of the orbit; chin with a small but distinct knob, the pores around it 

 not well marked. Teeth small, not forming villiform bands, in 2 rather 

 irregular series in each jaw, the outer teeth in ujjper jaw somewhat 

 enlarg(>d, the large teeth fewer in number and larger than in S. furthi. 

 Gill rakers numerous, very fine and slender, the largest about f diameter 

 of orbit, 21 -f- 27. Pseudobranchi* quite small. Preopercle with its angle 

 evenly rounded, the upper and lower limbs nearly equal, the membrana- 

 ceous margin minutely serrulate; above the augle is a short, very strong 

 spine directed backwards, and at the augle is a similar one directed 

 obliquely downward and backward ; no other stiff spines on the preopercle. 

 First and second spines of the dorsal strong and inflexible, second spine 

 about i length of head; third spine longest, about i as long as head, 

 and like the succeeding spines very slender and flexible; eleventh and 

 twelfth spines longer and stronger than the tenth; soft dorsal anteriorly 



