656 CONTPJPUTIOXS TO NOETH AMEEICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 
vv. Highest dorsal spine little if any more 
than half the length of head. 
y. Pale blotches on sides not form- 
ing a continnons lateral hand; 
occipital ridges moderate. 
z. Pale markings liesh-color; dark 
markings olivaceous. . carnatus. 
zz. Pale markings yellow ; dark 
markings blackish . . chrysomelas. 
yy. Pale blotches on sides, forming 
a continuous lateral baud ; body 
and fins profusely speckled with 
pale; dark markings black; 
pale markings yellow ; occipital 
ridges very strong nebulosus. 
it. Nuchal spines i^resent, usually distinct from 
occipital; cranial ridges very 
short and high; olivaceous, 
handed with black; head red 
below serriceps. 
88. Cranial ridges with the surface broken, spi- 
nous; frontal ridges elevated; 
color bright red, with black 
bands nigrocinctus. 
a. Species with very small scales (lat. 1.- 90-100); the cranial ridges little developed; 
the month very large, the lower jaw much projecting. (Sehastodes.) 
100 $. S. pailcispiBlis (Ayres) Gill. — Boccaccio; Meroii ; Jack. 
Pale dull orange red, dark brown above, tlie sides soinewliat vaguely 
spotted; young olivaceous; fins nearly plain, lower reddish, upper 
dusky; tip of lower jaw dark. Body elongate, compressed, profile 
straight from the protruding tip of the lower jaw to the front of the dor- 
sal. Head large, long, and narrow, pointed. Mouth much larger than 
in any other species, oblique, the broad maxillary reaching to beyond the 
eye; its length If in head; lower jaw very strong, with a projecting 
knob at tip, which protrudes farther than in any other species. Pre- 
maxillary on the level of lower edge of pupil. Cranial ridges little de- 
veloped, the preocnlar and occipital traceable and sometimes ending in 
small spines. Interocular space broad, with two low ridges; top of 
head scaled to tip of snout; maxillary and preorbital scaly; preorbital 
with narrow neck and three small spines; suborbital stay moderate; 
preopercular spines sharp and diverging, the third largest, the lower 
often divided; opercular spines moderate. Gill-rakers slender, com- 
l)ressed, not very long. Eye large, 4-G in head, slightly more than in- 
terorbital width. Scales very small and rough, irregular; accessory 
scales few. Dorsal spines low, rather slender, the fin deeply emar- 
