54 



PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Difficult though it may be to prove upou piiper the distinctness of 

 these forms, there do not exist on this coast any other four species be- 

 longing to one group which can be so unerringly separated by the eye. 



Diagnosis. 



Sides with purple blotches; 

 pectorals barred. 



■C.picim, 



lenscth. 



Suborbital stay scaleless; di- 

 ameter of orbit about roTj of 

 total length. 



r I 



I round spots surroundiuj^ areas | 



I of lighter color thau the general '> C. consteUatus. 



I ground ; pectorals sharply spot- 1 



Suborbital stay scaly ; diam- | ted. J 



eter of orbit about you of total ^ Sides with irregularly scat- i 



tered circular or subcircular ^ C. guttatus. 

 spots ; pectorals nearly i)lain. j 

 Sides with irregularly shaped ) 

 blolches, disposed in live or six ^ C. maculo-sei'iatus 

 ^longitudinal series. ) 



C. pictus. 



This form is more inconstant in the number of its tin-rays and in 

 the coloration than any of the others. 



Six specimens now before me vary as follows in the rays of the dorsal 

 and anal: 



No. 1. Locality, San Francisco market D. 



No. 2. Locality, San Francisco market D. 



No. 3. Locality, San Francisco market D. 



No. 4. Locality, Kadiak Island, Alaska D. 



No. 5. Locality, San Francisco market D. 



No. 6. Locahty, Kadiak Island, Alaska D. XV III, ./a 



The color of all the species changes rapidly on exposure to air or im- 

 mersion in alcohol. 



No. 2, when fresh, was of a brilliant green upon the belly and lower 

 part of the flanks, deepening into brown above, and blotched with 

 bright purple. After exposure, the ground tint becomes first reddish, 

 and finally dull purplish brown, while the purple blotches gradually 

 fade into dirty white. 



The dorsal and anal are blotched like the body, and the pectorals 

 barred with the same tints. 



In all the examples examined, the ventrals are shorter than the pec- 

 torals, and fall considerably short of the vent ; and the lowest pair of 

 lateral lines unite much nearer to the ventrals than to the vent. 



I can perceive no constant diflerence between specimens from Alaska 

 and those found in our market. The most ordinary number of rays in 

 tjie first dorsal appears to be nineteen. 



No. 1 differs from all the others in the total absence of brighter 

 blotches upon the sides, but the pectorals are barred, and all other 

 characters coincide. 



XX, ^ 

 XXI, ,\ 

 XXI,^ 

 XIX, ^ 



XIX, ,v 



A. 21 

 A. 22 

 A. 21 

 A. 21 

 A. 21 

 A. 24 



Chirus consteUatus. 

 First dorsal, in all the individuals examined, with twenty-one rays, 



