54 " FOSSIL FISHES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 



apparently rather large; the jaws, badly crushed, seem to be stout; no 

 teeth are shown except in a fragment on the side which shows very 

 small; even, sharp, recurved teeth. The opercle has the posterior margin 

 very oblique, feebly convex, making a greater than a right angle with 

 the inferior border. The angle is rounded and the bones show no spines. 

 The suborbital stay, the large bone below and behind the eye, is well 

 developed, conspicuous, and with entire edges, with a central elevation 

 scarcely spine-like. 



MEASUREMENTS. 



Length of head, approximated . . . 205 mm. 

 Length of snout, estimated . . . 30 mm. 



Length from anterior border of eye 



to posterior end of opercle . . . 175 mm. 

 to the anal fin . . . . . 303 mm. 



to the dorsal fin 197 mm. 



to the ventral . . . . 130 mm. 



to the first caudal . . . . . 278 mm. 

 Depth at ventral fin . . , . . 82 mm. 

 Depth at first dorsal fin . ^, . 76 mm. 



Length of base of dorsal fins . . ,.'/. 120 mm. 

 Length of 12th vertebra .... 6.5 mm. 



Depth of 12th vertebra . ., . , . 7.5mm. 



Vertebrae in 113 mm , 19 



Body vertebrae . .. . . . -, 19 



If we correctly interpret the characters of this fish, it is a member 

 of the COTTID^:, and the number of its ventral rays, if accurately stated, 

 suggests affinity with the relatively primitive genus SCORP^ENICHTHYS 

 Girard, represented by a large species (S. MARMORATUS Ayres) on the 

 coast of California. 



Geologically the family of COTTID^E is very recent, the oldest genus 

 known (EOCOTTUS Woodward) dating from the Upper Eocene of 

 Monte Bolca. 



As currently understood, the family seems to represent two main 

 lines of descent. The typical COTTID^: are large-headed forms, with 

 irregular scutes or bony plates, if armed at all, never regular scales. 

 The slender, small-headed forms, with weak armature and the body 

 primitively covered with small scales, form a distinct group. 



The most primitive living genus of the true COTTID.E is probably 

 SCORP^ENICHTHYS Girard. It has typical armature of the head and 

 the ventral rays I, 5, as in most spiny-rayed fishes. The skin is without 

 scales. The oldest known fossil of this type is E*OSCORPIUS, if we have 



