292 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



tlie base moderate, nearly equal to the diameter of tlie eye. Ventrals 

 not reaching- tips of pectorals. 



D. XIII, 14; A. Ill, 7. Scales in about 48 transverse series. 



Color very pale rose-red, almost white, with cross-bars of a deep, 

 intense crimson-red, these bands broadest on the back. One of the 

 bands runs across the eye, snout, suborbital, and maxillary, with in- 

 distinct boundaries ; the next across the nuchal region and front of 

 dorsal and opercle 5 the next across the middle of the spinous dorsal, 

 including the ventrals and the posterior half of the pectorals ; another 

 across the soft dorsal and anal; another across the base of the caudal, 

 the fin itself being deep rose color. The other fins share the color of 

 that part of the body against which they lie. 



This species is known from two examples, each about one foot long, 

 taken on a reef in Santa Barbara Channel, by J. Weinmiller, February 

 14, 1880. 



Afterwards about eight others, larger than the original types, were 

 taken in deep water near Monterey. It is known to the fishermen as 

 the ''Spanish Flag," and is the most brilliantly colored large fish on the 

 Pacific coast. 



Its relations to the other red species are not intimate. 



Sebastichthys vexillaris sp. nov. 



Body stout and compressed; the back elevated; the form rather 

 deeper and more elliptical than ,in the other red species. Head mod- 

 erate; the profile moderately acute. Mouth rather large, moderately 

 oblique, the broad maxillary usually extending to a point somewhat 

 behind the orbit. Premaxillary anteriorly on the level of the lower 

 edge of the pupil. Jaws subequal, the lower somewhat projecting, but 

 without symphyseal knob; the upper jaw not emarginate. 



Ridges on top of head long and low, rather broader and lower than 

 in the other red species; their spines rather depressed. The following- 

 pairs of spines are present, four or five in all: Nasal, preocular, supra- 

 ocular, occipital, and sometimes tympanic. The nasal spines are promi- 

 nent; the preocular spines are quite conspicuous and extend well back- 

 ward ; the isupraocular ridge is depressed and broad, its spine triangu- 

 lar ; the occipital spines are rather long and diverge backward. In 

 some specimens a tympanic spine is present, which is wanting in the 

 others. The interorbital space is broad and flattish, broader than iu 

 related species, about equal to the diameter of the orbit. It is occupied 

 by two raised ridges, which are covered by the scales. In large speci- 

 mens these ridges are quite obscure. 



Preopercular spines moderate; some of them usually divided into 

 two, three, or four at tip, the middle one the largest. Tbe degree of 

 division of these spines is quite variable, but at least the middle spine 

 is usually divided. 



Posterior border of the interopercle with a strong spine, above which 



