1784 Btdietm ^7, U^iited States National Museuvi. 



ridges. Gill rakers slender, 2 iu orbit, 23 or 24 on anterior limb of tirst 

 arch. Dorsal fin rather low, the spines delicate, the fifth longest, 2\ to 2^ 

 in head, the second about equal to the eleventh, the twelfth about 1^ in 

 the thirteenth, the membrane rather deeply incised anteriorly and reach- 

 ing about halfway up the thirteenth spine; soft rays about ecxualing the 

 spines; caudal fin slightly lunate, its length about \\ in head; second and 

 third anal spines about equal in length, the former a little the stronger, 1^ 

 iu the soft rays; pectorals reaching very nearly to vent, a little less than 

 head, '6h in body, their l)ase nearly 3 iu their length, the median rays long- 

 est; ventrals not reaching vent, about 1| in pectorals. Scales on body, 

 opercles, and interorbital sjjace strongly ctenoid, those on mandibles, max- 

 illaries, and most of those on cheeks cycloid ; preorbital and snout with 

 minute scales; accessory scales few. Color in alcohol, dark reddish 

 brown, mottled with lighter; top of head nearly black; a dark stripe on 

 edge of lower jaw, another on maxillary ; a dark-brown band from pre- 

 orbital downward and backward to posterior edge of preopercle ; a broader 

 band from posterior rim of orbit backward and downward across pre- 

 opercle and opercle ; fins all dusky, the dorsals somewhat mottled ; peri- 

 toneum black. Coast of Alaska, rare; not recently noticed except about 

 Kadiak. The above description is taken from 3 specimens, 5^ to of inches 

 long, from Kadiak, in the possession of the Alaska Commercial Company. 

 No others have been obtained since the time of Pallas and Tilesius. {ciVia- 

 ius; ciUam, eyelid, with the lashes.) 



Epinephelus ciliatus,* Tilesius, Mem. Ac. Sci. St. Petersb., iv, 1810, 474, " Camtschaticus 



et Americanus;" no specific locality given, probably from about Kadiak. 

 Perca variabilis, Pallas, Zoogr. Kosso-Asiat., in, 241, 1811, Aleutian Islands. (Type in 



museum of Berlin ; red specimens of Sebastoden aleutianus included as the summer 



coloration of "variabilis.'') 

 Sebastes variabilis, Cuvier & Valbnciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., iv, 347; Gunthee, Cat., 



n, 99. 

 Sebastodes ciliatus, .Jordan & Qilbert, Synopsis, 658, 1883; Cramer, Proc. Cal. Ac. Sci. 



1895, 592. 



2185. SEBASTODES MYSTINUS, Jordan & Gilbert. 



(PfiCHE PRETEE; PRIEST FiSH; BLACK EOCKFISH.) 



Head 3* ; depth 2f ; pectorals 3^ in head. D. XIII, 15 ; A. Ill, 9 ; scales 66, 

 50 to 55 pores. Body oval-oblong, compressed, both outlines evenlj- curved. 

 Head rather blunt, compressed; profile oblique, almost straight, becoming 

 convex with age. Mouth smaller than in any of the preceding species, 

 oblique, lower jaw protruding; premaxillaries on level of lower rim of 

 orbit; maxillaries dilated behind, reaching posterior margin of pupil, 

 thickly scaled behind, their length 2t in head. The region between and 

 in front of eyes bulging considerably; preopercle with rather strong 

 spines, the 2 at the angle longest ; opercular spines rather strong. Spinous 

 dorsal very low, the longest spines 2^ in head, lower than soft rays, fin 

 rather deeply emarginate; second anal spine stronger than third, and a 

 little shorter, 31 in head; pectoral fins long, about as long as head, their 



* D. XIII, 14 ; A. Ill, 8 ; scales 43 ; no description of color. 



