106. SCORP^ENICE — SEBASTODES. 677 



blackish olis'oj crauial iicl<ie8 black. Eody robust, compressed beliiiul. 

 Head compressed. Mouth large, the maxillary reaching to op[)osite 

 middle of eye, its length 2;^ in head; jaws equal. Cranial ridges thick, 

 short, high and strong, covered with lax, thick skin, placed nearly in 

 a right line on each side; preocular, supraocular, tymi)anic, occipital, 

 and nuchal spines usually i^resent, the latter sometimes coalescent \virli 

 the occipital; interorbital space narrow, tlat, closely scaled; preorbital 

 rather broad; i)reopercular spines shar}); jaws naked; membranes of 

 spinous dorsal thick, covered with small scales. Eye small, 5 in head. 

 Gill-rakers short, stiff and clavate. Dorsal spines strong, rather low, 

 scarcely exserted, lower than the soft rays, the longest 2| in head; 

 second anal spines 2;^ in head, stronger than third, scarcely longer; 

 pectorals broad and rounded, the lower rays thickened, the tips reach- 

 ing vent; ventrals reaching beyond vent: caudal rounded. Peritonenm 

 pale. Head 3 ; depth 2i ; pectoral 3^. D. XlIl-13; A. Ill, 5; Lat. 1. 

 50. L. 12 inches. San Francisco to Cerros Island, abundant south- 

 ward; one of the most singularly marked of the rock-lishes. 

 (SebasUcMlvjs aerriccps Jordan & Gilbert, Pioc. U. S. Xat. Mas. 18d0, '.iS.) 



1034. S. iiigrocinctus (Ayres) J. & G. 



Bright orange-red, with 5 jet-black vertical bars, overlaid with red ; 

 these bars comparativel}' narrow, none of them wider than eye; one 

 at beginning of dorsal, .extending downward on oi)ercle and scai)ular 

 region; a second, broader one, under middle of s])inous dorsal; a third 

 under posterior part of spinous dorsal; the fourth narrower, under front 

 of soft dorsal; the tifth under middle of soft dorsal, all of these extend- 

 ing on the dorsal fin; two oblique black bands from eye, downwards 

 and backwards across cheeks; another upwards and backwards towards 

 the nape; fins uniform deep orange,. anal and ventrals tii)ped with black- 

 ish; mouth red. Body short, deep, and compressed, <leeper than in any 

 of the other species; back arched. Head large, com])ressed. ]\Iouth 

 very large; maxillary extending to oeyond pupil, 2 in head; lower jaw 

 very slightly projecting, the symi)hysis not produced; premaxillary 

 scarcely below eye. Eye large, 4.^ in head. Cranial ridges higher than 

 in any other species, their spines blunt, the ridges arranged in two 

 nearly parallel series as in S. aerriccps, the surface of the larger ones 

 roughened by accessory s])inoii.s tubercles as in S. ruber; occipital 

 ridges very high; skin covering cranial ridges thin or obsolete, not lax; 

 interorbital space sparsely scaled, very narrow, its breadth a little more 

 than half diameter of eye, with very strong frontal ridges, which are not 

 covered by the scales; jaws naked; preorbital broad, a low ridge extend- 



