Jordaji and Evcrmann. — Fishes of North America. 1773 



kk. Coronal spines developed; interorbital witli a 



median ridge ; gill rakers long ; lower pectoral 



rays normal, not thickened and fleshy. Pores 



of lower jaw (in auriculatus) entirely closed 



by a thin membrane. Auctospina. 



ec. Palatines without teeth. Preocnlar, supraocular, postocular, tympanic, 



parietal, nuchal, and coronal si)ines developed. Suborbital stay with 



a sharp spiniferous ridge. Sebastopsis. 



About 12 or 15 species * of Sehasiodes hsivo been described from the waters 

 of Japan, and about 55 species from the Pacific coast of North America. 

 Thus far none has been found common to both coasts of the Pacific. There 

 is proof that at least 3 species inhabit the west coast of South America. 

 In view of the fact that nearly all the species of this genns have been 

 discovered during the last 15 years, that there are strong indications that 

 the coasts of Japan and temperate South America may contain nearly as 

 great a variety of forms as has been brought to light on the coast of 

 America, and that the range of known species is likely to be greatly ex- 

 tended, it has been thought proper to append in footnotes the diagnoses 

 of all the known species of this remarkable genus. (Sebastes ; ez'Soj, re- 

 semblance.) 



Analysis op North Americax Species of Sebastodks. 



EmMELAS (el/, in; ne'Aas, black) : 



I. Dorsal spines 14; skull thick, with small spines; colors dull. glaucus, 2177. 



II. Dorsal .spines always 13. 



a. Interorbital space more or less convex (never concave), broad, le.ss than 3J in base 



of skull; cranial ridges \ rry low m- obsnletr. tlic spines, when present, delicate; 



base of skull strongly otn\(cl, nicsi tlnn.iia indci sses not elevated (not directed 



upward), ventral process of basisphcudiil ludimciihiry (or fairly developed only 



in young); skull usually thick; anal rays III, 9 to III, 6; gill rakers usually long 



and slender; snour, preorbitals, and jaws more or less scaly. 



b. Cranial ridges (except parietal) all obsolete or very slightly developed, cranial 



spines absent or very inconstant and minute (regularly present only in young), 



(preocular spines usually present in mystinus) ; lower jaw much projecting. 



SEBASTODES : 



c. Parietal bones not meeting; mesethmoid processes weak and depressed; scales 

 small, 90 to 100 transverse series of scales above lateral line, 55 to 80 tubes; 

 lower jaw much projecting, entering profile, a large symphyseal knob, 

 directed forward. A. Ill, 8 to III, 10. 



*A fossil species is referred to this genus, viz: Sebastodes rosce, Eigenmann, known 

 from a fragment found at Port Harford, California. It is thus described : 

 " Sebastodes ( ? ) rosce, Eigenmann, Zoe, i, Ki, 1890. 



" During half an hour's search in a bed of Tertiary fossils at Port Harford, California, 

 a comparatively large number of fish remains were discovered. They consisted mostly 

 of isolated, and in many cases fragmentary, bones, mixed with the remains of mammals, 

 liirds, crustaceans, radiates, and mollusks. 



" Among the fish remains is the lower of the preopercle of a Sebastodes, or some related 

 !ieniis. It represents a fish about 0.30 m. long. The 3 lower preopercular spines are 

 of about equal size and the distance between them is about equal. They are all directed 

 downward and backward. The ridge between the exposed portion of the limb and that 

 portion serving for the attachment of the muscles of the cheek is less marked than 

 in living species, and the latter surface is shallower and broader. Compared with liv- 

 ing species of Sebastodes this species most resembles roiaceus; the preopercle is, how- 

 ever, ranch heavier. The openings into the mucous canal differ from all living speciea 

 very strikingly. There are 3 such opeuiugs, or pits, on the anterior half of the first 

 spine, decreasing in size backward (the posterior is quite small and not in view in the 

 accompanying figure). There is a large pit between the first and second, and another 

 between the second and third spines, and 2 smaller ones on the anterior half of the second 

 spine. The species may stand as Sebastoden ( I ) roece," (Eigenmann.) 



