290 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Eidges on top of head rather low, not ending in very prominent 

 si)iues. The following pairs are present : N'asal, preociUar, supraocular, 

 and occipital., four in all. Occasionally the tympanic spine is alsodevel- 

 oi)ed, although very small. The nasal spines are quite prominent. The 

 preocular and superocnlar moderately so, but short. The occipital 

 spines are comparatively short and low. 



Preorbital bone with the neck very narrow, scarcely one-fifth the di- 

 ameter of the eye, provided anteriorly with two stout spines, which pro- 

 ject backward. 



Preopercular spines short, but rather sharp, the second longer and 

 slenderer than the others, all of them iiointed. Subopercle and interoper- 

 cle with spines. Opercular and suprascapular spines sharp. 



Interorbital space rather broad and slightly convex, widened back- 

 ward, a little depressed on each side next the supraocular spine, its 

 width less than that of the eye and more than the length of the occipital 

 spine. 



Gill-rakers long and slender, but stouter, rougher, and shorter than 

 in 8. pinniger, 9 above the angle and aboiit 22 below ; the longest two- 

 fifths the diameter of the eye, about half the interorbital space. 



Scales on the head rather large, about 15 in a cross-series on the 

 checks above the suborbital stay. Preorbital scaly. 



Scales on body large and somewhat more regularly arranged than usual. 

 Accessory scales present, but not numerous ; 52 transverse series of 

 scales. 



Dorsal spines moderate, the fifth and sixth spines highest, the others 

 regularly sliortened each way, the twelfth about as long as the first, the 

 membrane joining the thirteenth less than half way up; the highest 

 spine rather less than half the length of the head and lower than the 

 soft rays, which are rather high. Caudal slightly rounded. 



Anal fin short and high, its spines slender, the second shorter than 

 the third, and not much stronger. Pectorals long and narrow, reaching 

 past the vent and nearly to the beginning of the anal, their length 

 seven-eighths that of the head, their base quite narrow, less than the 

 diameter of the eye. Ventrals long, reaching just past the vent. 



D. XII, I, 14; A. Ill, 7. 



Color similar to that of 8. rasfrcUiger, but i^aler, usually olive-green, 

 marbled with darker; belly pale yellowish green ; fins olivaceous. Some- 

 times this species is quite dark, but it never shows red tints either on 

 body or fins. 



This species is closely related to S. pinniger, from which it differs in 

 the absence of the postocular and tympanic spines and in the coloration, 

 8. pinnigcr being always chiefl}^ orange-red. Externally it resembles 8. 

 t astrelligcr most, but it may be known at once from the latter species 

 by the long gill rakers and narrow pectorals. 



8. afrovirens is very abundant from Point Concepcion as far as San 

 Diego. About Catiliua Island it is the most abundant species of the 



