THE SHORE FISHES OF PERU 453 



SCORPAENODES XYRIS (Jordan and Gilbert) 



Peje-diablo 



Sebastopsis xyris Jordan and Gilbert, 1882e, p. 369, Cape San Lucas, Baja 



California (original description). 

 ?Sebastodes chincha Nichols and Murphy, 1922, p. 511, fig. 2, Chincha Islands, 



Peru (original description). 

 Scorpaenodes xyris Meek and Hildebrand, 1928, p. 845, pi. 81, fig. 2, Panama 



Bay (synonymy; description; range). 



Head 2.4 to 2.65; depth 2.9 to 3.1; D. XIII, 10; A. Ill, 5; P. 17 

 or 18; scales 44 to 46. 



Body rather elongate, moderately compressed, its greatest thickness 

 about two-thirds its depth ; dorsal profile anterior to dorsal fin gently 

 convex; caudal peduncle rather strongly compressed, 3.4 to 3.6, in 

 head; snout broad, 4.0 to 4.5; eye large, 3.3 to 3.5; interorbital narrow, 

 deeply concave, 8.2 to 9.4, or 2.4 to 2.7 in eye; mouth large, oblique; 

 lower jaw included, with a slight knob at tip; maxillary reaching 

 vertical from posterior margin of eye, 1.85 to 2.0 in head; teeth small, 

 in a band in each jaw, and in a broad V-shaped band on vomer, the 

 band on upper jaw divided anteriorly by a bare area; spines on head 

 well developed; nasal spine, pre-, supra-, and postocular spines, and 

 tympanic spine in a row, and following each other rather closely; 

 parietal and nuchal spines forming a separate row, nearer midline; 

 coronal spines small, strongly diverging; 2 scapular spines, one behind 

 the other; and 1 spine above base of pectoral; suborbital stay well 

 developed, with a spine under eye and another at its posterior end, 

 just in front of uppermost preopercular spine; preorbital with 2 broad 

 lobes but no definite spines; preopercle with 3 definite spines, and 1 or 

 2 blunt points below them, the uppermost spine largest and with a 

 small spine at the base; opercle with two strong spines near posterior 

 angle; gill rakers short, the anterior ones on each arch broad low 

 tubercles, those at angle about half length of pupil, eight or nine on 

 lower and 5 or 6 on upper limb of first arch, somewhat developed; 

 lateral line following outline of back, generally missing on 1 or 2 

 scales near base of caudal, then reappearing on 1 or 2 scales on base of 

 caudal anterior nostril with a prominent fringed or indented cutaneous 

 flap; a simOar flap on upper part of eye above anterior margin of 

 pupil; fleshy tentacles present near tip of nearly all the spines on top 

 of head exclusive of the nasal, preocular, and coronal spines; tentacles 

 also present on posterior lobe of preorbital, preopercular spines, 

 and on preopercular margin below the spines; slight tentacles 

 attached to the pores in anterior part of lateral lines; scales firm, 

 ctenoid, extending forward to interorbital, missing only on snout, 

 about the mouth, and on lower surface of head, extending on bases of 

 soft part of dorsal, caudal, anal, and pectoral, 5 rows between lateral 

 line and first dorsal spine, 3 between it and last ray of dorsal; dorsal 



624264—45 30 



