GREGORY: FISH SKULLS 



333 



the preopercular is deeply forked, the posterior branch terminating in a curved spike pointing 

 downward and forward. The bent preopercular rod braces and is wrapped over the quad- 

 rate and is supported by a strong short crest from the thickened hyomandibular. 



Even in this species the skull as a whole is notably broader than that of Sebastes, but in 

 Myoxocephalus jaok (Fig. 213) and allied species the breadth becomes extreme, while the 

 eyes are directed chiefly upward, this apparently indicating a bottom-living habit. The 

 skull bones in M. octodecimspinosus are thin and delicate and the spikes reduced or wanting. 



pm%- 

 pi- ' 



777X- 



scale:, 

 bone 





pmy- 



Platycephalus fuscus 



Fig. 211. Platycephalus. A. Side view. B. Top view. 



