FAMILY SCORPAENIDAE — SCHULTZ 21 



Descrij)tion- — Dorsal rays XII,x or xi; anal 111,6 (probably last 5 

 soft rays branched at tips on adults); pectoral xiv; pel vies 1,5; pores 

 in lateral line 21 or 22; gill rakers on first gill arch 5 or 6 + 1 + 12. 



Depth 1.9 to 2.0; head 2.2 to 2.4; thickness or width of body through 

 pectoral bases 5.6 to 9.5; all in standard length. Snout 2.8 to 3.0; 

 eye 4.0 to 4.2; postorbital part of head 2.0 to 2.1 ; least depth of caudal 

 peduncle 2.9 to 3.0; longest ray of pectoral fin 1.0 to 1.1; longest 

 dorsal spine 1.3 to 1.4; all in length of head. Least width of bony 

 interorbital 1.3 to 1.5 in eye; least depth of caudal peduncle 1.3 in its 

 length; next to last dorsal spine in last dorsal spine 1.0 to 1.1, and in 

 longest dorsal spine 1.3 to 1.4; length of first anal spine in second 1.5. 

 Pel vies reach a little past anus, about to anal fin origin. 



This species is characterized by its compressed head and body, 

 continuous dorsal fin with soft rays abruptly a little longer than last 

 dorsal spines, with the soft dorsal connected by membrane to dorsal 

 edge of caudal fin from a third to half the length of caudal fin; body 

 naked; head, body, and fins with scattered short dermal cirri, most 

 as broad as or broader than long; all soft dorsal and pectoral rays un- 

 branched, but anal may or may not have the tips of soft rays branched, 

 depending on size; second or third dorsal spine longest; third anal 

 spine longest; pectoral rays reaching a little past middle of length of 

 anal fin base; anal fin free from caudal peduncle; teeth in a villiform 

 band on jaw; vomer and palatines edentulous. 



Color in alcohol. — Background coloration pale or yellowish with dark 

 brown blotches scattered on head, body, and fins; two dark bars 

 across pectoral; a narrow dark streak extending obliquely downward 

 and backward from eye on cheek. This species has a black color 

 phase or one intermediate between black and yellow. 



Ecology.' — This species occurs in areas where coral-alga growths 

 are abundant and wave action strong. 



Remarks. — Taenianotus citrinellus Gilbert is a synonym of this 

 species and represents the yellow color phase (see Schultz, Copeia, 

 No. 4, p. 206, 1938). 



Subfamily Pteroiinab 



Genus PTEROIS Cuvier 



Pterois Oken, Isis, p. 1782 [=1182] 1817 (type species, Gasterosteus voUtans 



Linnaeus) (reference copied). 

 Macrochirus Swainson, Natural history and classification of fishes . . ., vol. 2, 



p. 180, 1839. 

 Macrochyrus Swainson, Natural history and classification of fishes . . ., p. 264, 



spelling emended (type species, "miles Benn. Cey, pi. 9")- 

 Pteroleptus Swainson, Natural history and classification of fishes . . . , pp. 180, 



264 (type species, "P. longicaudn Russ. ii, pi. 133")- 

 Pteropterus Swainson, Natural history and classification of fishes . . . , pp. 



180, 264 (type species, "T. radiatus Cuv. and Val."). 



