FAIVIILY SCORPAENIDAE — SCHULTZ 



15 



of scorpaenid fishes in the National Museum. That study caused me 

 to change some of the conclusions reached prior to 1943, especially 

 those involving the region of the postocular and postfrontal spines. 

 In order to know what name to apply to those spines, I studied that 

 area from the evolutionary viewpoint. 



My observations concerning the postfrontal and postocular spines 

 and related ones are recorded in figure 137. In that figure, a to f 

 illustrates the most simple conditions found in scorpaenid fishes. The 

 parietal spine and ridge is a stable character, although there may be 

 two spines. Between the orbits, in front of the parietal spine, there 

 may be an interorbital ridge (fig. 137,6) that varies as it continues 

 posteriorly, either leading into the base of the parietal spine or curv- 

 ing into the postfrontal spine (fig. I o7, b, d J, g,i,j)- An occipital pit 

 may or may not occur; if it is present, the postfrontal spine is located 

 at its anterior corner and the parietal near its posterior one (fig. 

 137, j,k, I, n). 



Figure 136. — Diagrammatic sketch showing location and names of the cranial spines of 

 scorpaenid fishes. C, cleithral; HU, humeral; lOR, interorbital ridge; lOS, interorbital 

 spine; NA, nasal; OCP, occipital pit; OP, opercular; PAR, parietal; PPAR, posterior 

 parietal; PFR, postfrontal ridge; POC, preocular; POP, preopercular; POR, preorbital; 

 PTER, pterotic; PTF, postfrontal; PTOC, postocular; second PTOC, second postocular; 

 PTOR, postorbital; PTT, posttemporal; SOR, suborbital; SPH, sphenotic; SPOC, 

 supraocular. 



By following the interorbital ridge and its continuation that forms 

 the postfrontal ridge, it is possible to distinguish, with few exceptions, 

 which spines at the rear of the orbit are postocular and which are 

 postfrontal (fig. 137, l,m,n,o). Sometimes the interorbital ridge has a 

 spine between the orbits farther forward than the usual position of 

 postfrontals or postoculars, and this is recognized as the interorbital 

 spme (fig. 137,A:). Thus, it was concluded that in certain species of 

 scorpaenid fishes there are two postoculars, one of which has been 

 called the "tympanic spine," a term that should be dropped. 



