466 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, - 
longest. Opercular spines usual. A small spine on the interopercle 
and one on the subopercle at the junction of the two bones. Supra- 
scapular spines present. Gill-rakers short, rather thick, compressed 
and somewhat clavate, the longest about two-ninths the diameter of the 
orbit. Seales moderate, rough, the accessory ones few; about 56 trans- 
verse series. Lower jaw, maxillary, nasal region, and space in front of 
eye naked. 
Dorsal spines high and strong, the third to sixth spines subequal and 
highest, rather higher than the highest soft rays. Dorsal fin deeply 
emarginate. Second anal spine much stronger than third, the two about 
equal in length. Pectorals with very broad base, reaching beyond the 
tips of the ventrals, which reach nearly to the vent. The lower pectoral 
rays thickened. Caudal slightly rounded. 
Dello Ads A. 1,6. 
Coloration black and yellow; the latter shade is usually a clear, 
warm, brownish yellow, with some specks of deeper orange. It varies 
irom a dusky orange to olivaceous yellow, the latter color more often 
seen on the belly. The dark shades are black or dark brown, with 
slight olive tinge. The colors are usually purest in specimens taken in 
deep water. 
The dark color predominates on the back; the membrane between the 
third and fourth dorsal spines and an area at the base of these spines 
is always pale; a yellow blotch extends thence downward and back- 
ward, joining the Jight color of the belly. Another light area passes 
from near the angle of the opercle around the pectorals, uniting below 
them. Three other blotches occur along the back, one under the eighth 
dorsal spine, one under the last spine, and one under the last soft ray; 
from each of these irregular pale areas extend down the sides. The 
fins have the color of the region to which they belong. Head above 
with dusky cross-shades and faint bands radiating from the eye. 
This species reaches a length of about 15 inches, and is found in large 
numbers on the coast of California, from the island of San Nicolas, 
which marks the southern limit of the abundance of the ‘‘rock-fish”, to 
Cape Mendocino. It is common in the markets of San Francisco, 
although not one of the most abundant species. Its affinity with S. car- 
natus has been elsewhere noticed (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. iii, 1880, 74). 
A table of measurements will be found on page 79 of vol. ili. 
The species described by us as Sebastichthys vexillaris in vol. ill, p. 292, 
is represented in Puget Sound and the Gulf of Georgia by a variety 
or subspecies with lower dorsal spines and much darker and duiler col- 
oration, the dark shades being of a reddish brown. The latter form is 
apparently identical with Sebastes caurinus Richardson, Ichth. Voy. 
Sulphur, i, 1844, 77, pl. 41, fig. 1, described from Sitka. 
The species may therefore take the name of Sebastichthys caurinus, 
and the California form thatof subspecies verillaris. 
INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY, 
Bloomington, Ind., November 6, 1880. 
