NO. i&=>s. JAPANESE SCULPINS— JORDAN AND STARKs. 293 



Lateral lino with coiicoalcd ])()ny plates. A very few scattered 

 ctenoid i)lates behind jxH-toral base present in ])()th sexes. No axil- 

 lary tentacles. To}) of head witii elose set, roiio-h. plates, whicii usu- 

 ally extend between eyes nearly to nasal spines; no plates on ui)per 

 part of pr(H)percle or operele. 



Third dorsal spine the hiuhest, 1^ in head in females, in males 1|; 

 the first spine 2J in females; If in males; the spines l)ehin<l the fourth 

 rapidly decrease in leno-th, so that the jwsterior border of the tin is 

 nearly vertical; the last spine one-third eye in lenoth. Doi-sals s<>pa- 

 rated l)v an intiu'val equal to that between spin(\s at base. Soft dorsal 

 lower than spinous; the lonoest rays 2^ in head in female, 2 in male; 

 the last ray is not tidnate; tips of last rays do not reach nearly so far 

 back as those of anal, which do not reach nearly to l)ase of caudal; 

 pectoral with 10 rays, 8 or 4 l)elow the third ai'e the longest; they 

 reach to above base of fourth anal ray in the female and are 1,1 in 

 head; in the male they reach to above fifth or sixth anal ray and are 

 equal to the head's length. 



The inner ray of the ventral is the lonoest; it I'eachcs to the vent in 

 the female, to the base of the seventh anal ray in the male. Caudal 

 almost imperceptibly concave wdien the fin is closed, truncate or 

 slightly convex Avhen spread; its length is If in the female. 1| in the 

 male. 



Color slaty, profusely spotted with small, irregular dark sjiots. with 

 or without obscure cross l)ars; when present there is 1 under middle 

 of s])inous dorsal, 2 under soft dorsal, and 1 halfway across caudal 

 peduncle; lower part of sides and ])elly white: a large l)lack blotch 

 occupies cheek below suborbital stay; operele ])elow preopercle spine 

 ])lack; membrane between upper ])ranchiostegal rays dark, the rays 

 white; spinous dorsal dark and irregularl}- mottled, or with a coui)le 

 of transparent <)bli([ue streak.s; soft dorsal transparent and with 2 or 

 3 conspicuous black streaks ol>Ii(|uely across the rays; pectoral white, 

 crossed toward posterior end with 3 or 4 nearly vertical black sti-eaks; 

 caudal white, crossed with 8 or 4 cur\ed black bands; \-cntials and 

 anal white. The following color was taken from a fresh specimen: 

 ()liv(\ finely mottled with brown, salmon red shades on sid(\s: tins 

 barred; the dorsal, anal, caudal, and pectoral washed with salmon red, 

 brightest on pectoral and caudal; ventral white, faintly t)arred with 

 salmon; lower side of In^ad more or less yellow. 



Here descrilKnl from specimens from 18 to 22 cm. in length from 

 Hakodate. 



This species may t)e known from (t. j)!sflJI/(/<r by the longer, better 

 armed preopercle spine, the wider and shallower interorbital space 

 which is rough with plates, the absence of axial tentacles or fringes 

 on inner side of pectoral rays, the absence of bony tubercles on top of 

 head, and by the presence of the superorbital tentacle in all ages. 



