Jordan and Evcnnann. — Fishes of North America. 1805 



faces, not elevated; ventral process of basisphenoid rudimentary or a little 

 developed ; base of skull moderately curved (less than in Schastodcs aurora). 

 Pacific coast of Araeriia, in deep water, from tlie Aleutian Islands, in 85 

 to 350 fathoms, to Santa Barbara Islands, in 266 fathoms. 



Sebastichthys introniger* Gilbert, Proc. U. S. Nafc. Mus., xni, 1890, 81, Santa Barbara 

 Islands, Lat. 33° 55' 30" N., Long. 119° 41' 30" W., in 266 fathoms. (Coll. Albatross.) 

 .Sebaslodcs intronujer, Gilbert, Eept. U. S. Fish. Coium. 1893 (1806), 407. 



Subgenus SEBASTOMUS, Gill. 



2207. SEBASTODES RIBERRIMIS, Cramer. 



(Red Rockfish; Tambor.) 



Head 3; depth 3|; eye U. D. XIII, 14; A. Ill, 7; lateral line about 50. 

 Body oblong, rather deep, not much compressed; head large, blunt, mouth 

 large, maxillary reaching nearly to posterior edge of eye, its length i 

 that of head; premaxillary on level of lower edge of j)upil; lower jaw a 

 little projecting, the symphyseal knob slight; interorbital space coarsely 

 scaled, with 2 slight ridges anteriorly. Preorbital wide; preopercular 

 spines broad, usually divided, the third multified. Scales on head rough ; 

 jaws naked ; 8ul)orbital stay weak. Gill rakers short, clavate, the longest 

 i^ eye. Scales on body rough ; accessory scales numerous; pectoral short, 

 broad, its length 4 in body; dorsal spines stout, rather low, the fin not 

 deeply notched, the longest spine about as high as the soft rays, 2^ in head ; 

 caudal truncate; soft fins scaly; second anal spine little stronger or longer 

 than third, f height of soft rays, 2J in head. Skull of large adult: Bones 

 tliick, spongy, cranial ridges well developed, entirely broken up into 

 spines and tubercles, parietal bones widely separated, interorbital space 

 flat (a compressed longitudinal ridge above mucous canals on froutals), 

 slightly more than 4 in base of skull; ventral i^rocess of basisphenoid 

 rudimentary, mesethmoid processes strong, compressed, not elevated, base 

 of skull straight. Skull of young: Ridges well developed, sharp, not at 

 all serrated; preocular, supraocular, postocular, tympanic, and parietal 

 spines all present, sharp; interorbital space deeply concave, 6} in base of 

 skull ; ventral process of basisphenoid partly developed, mesethmoid pro- 

 cesses elevated. Color, clear deep vermilion red, paler below; a narrow 

 undulating whitish streak along the sides, from the eye to above the base 

 of the anal, and another along the lateral line ; these indistinct in the 



* This species has been identified with S. melanostomus, Eigenmann, by Cramer and by 

 Jordan & Evermann. The types of the two have not been compared, and the description 

 of ,S'. melanostomus fails to agree in so many details with specimens of .S'. introniger that 

 it seems lust tn Iuh |, the two apart. S. introniger has the head larger, 2J in total length. 

 The inter(iiliii;il ^piu <■ is narrower, 5.t iu length of head. The scales are larger, 34 in the 

 course of tin' IjIiihI line. The accessory scales are very numerous. The gill rakers are 

 much longer, Uie luu;;Lst contained 2,V to 2J times in the diameter of the orbit. Thesecond 

 and third anal spines are equal, or the second slightly the lon'ger, contained IJ times in 

 longest anal ray. In .S'. melanostomus the head is 3J in total length. There are 43 scales 

 in the lateral line, and but few accessory scales. The gill rakers are contained 3J times 

 in the diameter of orbit, and the anal spines are graduated, the second "not much more 

 than h the length of the soft rays." Two specimens of S. introniger, 30 cm. and 44 cm. 

 long, entirely agree in the respects above mentioned. The diti'ereuc'es alleged to separate 

 the two species can not, therefore, be due to age. (Gilbert.) 



