562 COXTRILUCIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY — IV. 
iJOO.— SCORPIS Cuvier & Valenciennes. 
(Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. viii, 503, 1831 : type Scorpis georgianus Cuv, Sl 
Val.) 
Body ovate or suborbicular, covered with small, firm, ctenoid scales, 
which also cover the membranes of the soft parts of the vertical fins ; 
mouth small, terminal, horizontal ; the maxillary narrow, slipping under 
the edge of the rather narrow preorbital; sides, top of head and 
jaws closely scaled ; preopercle entire or minutely creuulate ; jaws with 
broad bands of slender teeth; those in the outer series incisor-like,* 
compressed, narrow and lanceolate in form, the outer surface transversely 
convex, the inner concave ; the other teeth of the jaws are similar, but 
grow progressively smaller backward toward the inside of the mouth ; 
incisors without conspicuous roots behind; all tlie teeth are somewhat 
movable, as in Girella; no molar teeth; vomer, palatines, and tongue 
with patches of minute villiform teeth ; gill-rakers slender, rather long; 
dorsal spines low, in a slight groove, about 10 in number; soft part of the 
fin elongate, much longer than the spinous part, sometimes falcate; 
anal spines small, gratluated, the soft rays numerous; caudal lunate; 
scales thinnish, adherent, wdth smaller ones intermixed ; pyloric coeca 
extremely numerous ; air-bladder small ; branchiostegals 7. Warm seas, 
name of some sea-fish; from axopKcoi;, scorpion.) 
a. Body ovate; fins uot falcate. ( Cfcsiosoma Kaup t) 
888. 8. ealifoVBiiensas Steindachner. — MediaJuna. 
Blackish above, tinged with bluish ; steel-blue or grayish below, some- 
what mottled; sides with faint oblique vertical lines of spots; fins black- 
ish. Body elliptic-ovate, its outlines regular; head bluntish, rounded, 
strongly convex; maxillary not reaching front of eye; eye small, in 
snout, 5 in head ; middle spines of dorsal highest, their height scarcely 
greater than the diameter of the eye ; soft dorsal low, not elevated in 
front, little higher than the .sjiines ; anal low ; caudal lunate, the upper 
lobe slightly longer; pectorals short and narrow; ventrals rather small. 
Head 3| ; depth 2^. D. IX, I, 22; A. Ill, 19; scales 9-58-19. L. 12 
inches. Coast of California, from Point Concepcion southward ; a hand- 
some flsli, of eonsiderable value as food. 
(SUduda.chHer,, JcUthyol. Bsitriige, iii, 19, 1875.) 
* In Scorpis georgiamis, the type of the genus, the outer teeth are said to be conic. 
This is probably erroneous., otherwise our species does uot belong to the genus. 
tKaup; Bloeker^ .Systeina Rercnr.uni ii, 11, 1875; type Scorjjis ceguipinnis Rich. 
