532 CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 
273.— POLYPRION Cuvier. 
Stone Bass. 
(Cuvier, Regue Anim. ii, 1817 : type Pohjimon cei-nium Val.) 
Body robust, moderately elevated, covered with small, firm scales, 
which extend on the vertical fius. Mouth large, the lower jaw pro- 
jecting. Teeth in villiform bands on jaws, vomer, palatines, and 
tongue. Preopercle serrate; orbital region with spinous projections; 
a strong, rough, bony longitudinal ridge on the opercle. Dorsal fin 
continuous, low, with 11 strong spines; caudal rounded; anal with 
3 spines, the third the largest; ventrals large; pectorals short. 
Spines of anal and ventrals somewhat serrate on the anterior edge. 
A'ertebr® 13 + 13. Pyloric coeca about 70. Brauchiostegals 7. (-u/y?, 
many; Tzpiwv, saw.) 
835. P. oxygeaiius (Sclm.) J. &. G. — Stone Bass; Wrcck-fish; Ceniier. 
Grayish brown, the caudal edged with white; young clouded with 
light and dark. Body robust, somewhat compressed; the back ele- 
vated. Mouth rather large, the scaly maxillary extending to opposite 
the posterior margin of the eye ; lower jaw the longer. Supraocular 
region, scapula, suprascapula, preopercle, and a ridge on opercle spi- 
nigerous. Anal spines short, serrate anteriorly, the third much the 
longest. Head 3 ; depth 2^. D. XI, 12; A. Ill, 8; L. C feet. A very 
large fish of the coasts of Southern Euroi^e and Africa ; a single young 
specimen lately obtained in deep w'ater by the United States Fish Com- 
mission. It resembles Stereolepis, but is much rougher. 
(Amphqyrion americanus Bloch & Schneider, 205, t. A7, 1801; erroneously ascribed to 
America (ji omen inejitumA): Epineplielus oxijgeneios Bloch & Schueider, 301 : Pohjprioa 
cerninm Valenciennes, M6m. du Mus. xi, 265: Polyprion cernium Cuv. &. Val. iii, 21, pi. 
42: Polyprion cernium Giiuther, i, 169: Polyprion cernium Day, Brit. Fish. 17.) 
274.— SERRAIVUS Cuvier. 
Sea Bass. 
(Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss. ii, 210, 1828: type Perea scriha L.) 
Body oblong or moderately elongate, covered with rather small, 
ctenoid scales. Scales of the lateral line quadrilateral or subtriangu- 
lar, ctenoid. Head oblong. Mouth wide, oblique. Maxillary with- 
out supplemental bone. Outer series of teeth more or less enlarged 
and canine-like, the canines sometimes very small, sometimes large, 
commonly numerous and developed along the sides of the lower jaw. 
