THE SHORE FISHES OF PERU 445 



an equal number between it and last ray of dorsal; dorsal fin not 

 deeply notched, tlie twelfth spine about five-sixths the length of the 

 tliirteenth, the fourth spine longest, being shghtly longer than third 

 and fifth, 2.4 in head, soft part of dorsal with convex margin, the 

 longest rays as high as the longest spines; caudal fin a httle longer 

 than snout and eye, with broadly convex margin; anal small, its origin 

 under first soft ray of dorsal, the second spine a httle longer and 

 stronger than the third, 2.5 in head, the longest soft ray, much longer 

 than the second spine; ventral inserted a little behind base of pectoral, 

 reaching shghtly beyond vent, 1.6 in head; pectoral large, reaching 

 beyond tip of ventral, but scarcely to origin of anal, its uppermost ray 

 simple, the next 10 divided, the remainder simple, fifth to seventh 

 rays longest, 1.4 in head, 3.3 in length. 



Color in life, according to M. J. Lobell's field notes, "beautiful 

 scarlet." Light gray above; pale underneath in alcohol; side with 

 small dark spots, these smaller and indistinct on head; dorsal and pec- 

 toral shghtly grayish, with indefinite dusky cross streaks and spots, 

 inner surface of the latter with black and wliite spots; other fins pale, 

 the caudal and anal with dark spots. 



This species is represented by a single specimen (U.S.N.M. No. 

 128130), 360 mm. (280 mm. to base of caudal) long, which must serve 

 as the type. It was taken by the Mission on a line trawl off Lobos de 

 Afuera Island at a depth of about 20 fathoms. 



This species difters from S. tierrae in the absence of a pit under the 

 anterior margin of the orbit, in the shorter occipital pit, in the number 

 and arrangement of the preopercular spines, in the notably fewer 

 cutaneous flaps on the head and body, in color, and in several other 

 respects, as shown in the descriptions. It differs prominently from 

 S. histrio in having a broader head, wdder mouth, and in the more 

 numerous spines on the suborbital stay; from S. thomsonii Giinther 

 (1880, p. 24) and S. jernandeziajta Steuidachner (1875a, p. 9), both 

 from the Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile, in having 20 instead of 16 

 rays in the pectoral. It differs from all the species of the genus 

 examined in the preparation of this work in having 13 instead of 12 

 dorsal spines. The additional spine perhaps for the present may be 

 regarded as an abnormahty. 



Range. — Known only from the type taken off Lobos de Afuera Island, 

 Peru. 



SCORPAENA PERUANA, new species 



Figure 86 

 Scorpaena histrio Fowler (not of Jenyns), 1940b, p. 783, Callao, Peru. 



Head 2.3 to 2.5; depth 2.4 to 2.9; D. XII, 10; A. Ill, 5; P. 15 or 16; 

 scales 42 to 44. 



Body deep, rather strongly compressed, its greatest thickness only 

 a httle greater than half its depth; head moderate, compressed, its 

 width at margins of preopercle equal to about two-thirds its depth; 



