Jordan and Evennann. — Fishes of North America. 1791 



head ; premaxillaries notched, the syinphyseal patch of teeth, however, 

 shutting outside them. Teeth on jaws, vomer, and palatines in very nar- 

 row bands except at symphysis and on vomer; a conspicuous depression 

 on each side of symphysis to receive the anterior premaxillary patch. 

 Eye very large, the diameter exceeding snout. Interorbital space very 

 wide, flat or slightly convex, conspicuously grooved, its width If eye. 

 Soft fins wholly enveloped in fine scales. Cranial ridges all low, the spines 

 slender; coronal and nuchal spines alone absent-. Mandible projecting 

 much beyond the upper profile of head, the symphyseal knob very strongly 

 developed in the adult, not noticeably so in young. Gill rakers h>ng 

 and numerous, ^ as long as eye. Second and third anal spines about 

 equal. Cranial ridges all very low, inconspicuous and with a small 

 spine or none; nasal and preocular evident; supraocular, postocular, and 

 tympanic present but hidden by scales, more conspicuous in the very 

 young; parietal ridges evident, ending in low spines; preorbital narrow, 

 its least width \ eye, its anterior edge with 2 long mucous slits, and in 

 Bome cases a single backwardly directed spine; opercular and humeral 

 spines well developed; preopercular spines flat, not very large, the upper 

 2 approximated, the lower 2 broadly triangular, tipped with short spines, 

 directed downward and backward; dorsal spines curved, the longest 2i 

 to 2\ in head, the twelfth about f the longest; soft dorsal about as high 

 as the longest spines; anal spines strong, the second slightly shorter than 

 the third, which equals or slightly exceeds diameter of eye. In the 

 young the second anal spine constantly equals or exceeds the third, but 

 grows relatively shorter with age; soft anal rays higher than soft dorsal, 

 1\ in head; caudal well notched, ventrals long, reaching vent; pectorals 

 longer, reaching nearlj^ to front of anal. Gill rakers long, clavate, \ 

 diameter of orbit, 25 on anterior limb of arch. Scales rough, ctenoid, 

 with many accessory minute ones, which are especially abundant on head 

 and nape ; head wholly scaled, including the interopercle, maxillary and 

 mandible, and the outer branchiostegal rays ; anterior surface of pectorals 

 and outer caudal rays closely invested with minute ctenoid scales which 

 extend well toward tips, also of soft dorsal and anal fins. Color bright 

 carmine red, lighter on belly ; dorsal dusky, edged with black ; an elongate 

 olive brown blotch along base of soft dorsal; a shorter one under the last 

 spines, and a faint one under the middle of spinous dorsal, the latter 

 extending farther down on sides ; a dark blotch on back of caudal pedun- 

 cle ; belly silvery, washed with red; a dark blotch on opercle, 1 on 

 axil, cross bar on occiput, 1 on snout and 2 dusky bars on cheek; 

 lower lip and tip of mandible blackish; mouth and gill cavity dusky; 

 fins all red, the spinous dorsal broadly margined with blackish ; perito- 

 neum jet-black in the young, varying from black to gray in adults; length 

 12 to 18 inches. Pacific coast from Bering Sea to Santa Barbara; com- 

 mon northward in deep water. This species was described from a single 

 immature example, dredged by the Albatross south of Santa Cruz Island, 

 southern California. No additional material was obtained during the 

 extensive dredging operations o{ the J Umtross on the California coast. 

 The species is, however, very abundant in the north Pacific, both north 

 and south of the Aleutian Islands. It was taken at various dredging 



