Jordan and Ever mann. Fishes of North America. 1131 



ANTHIIN/E: 



a'. Lateral line complete and continuous, extending to base of caudal; ventral rays I, 5; 



dorsal rays IX to XII, 9 to 20; anal rays III, 7 to 10; pectoral rays branched; snout 



short, mostly convex in profile; fishes of rather deep waters, chiefly bright red in life. 



b' Dorsal spines 9, all low, the soft rays about 19. Caudal fin deeply forked, the lobes 



produced; scales small, ctenoid; ventrals long, inserted behind axil of pectoral; 



maxillary, scaly; frontal region flattish, the supraoccipital crest very prominent. 



PARANTHIAS, 513. 



bl' Dorsal spines 10 or more; scales not very small preopercle angular, with salient teeth 



at its angle; one or more dorsal spines sometimes filamentous; ventral fins long. 



c 7 . Maxillary and frontal region naked; tongue mostly toothless; caudal fin lunate; 



parietals weak; posterior process of premaxillary reaching the frontals. 

 <!' . Ventrals inserted behind axil of pectoral; scales 50 to 60. 



HEMIANTHIAS, 514. 

 rf ( /'. Ventrals inserted before axil of pectoral; scales 38 to 45. 



PRONOTOGRAMMUS, 516. 

 cc j . Maxillary scaly; top of head scaled to the snout. 



e'. Pterygoids toothless; tongue with few teeth or none; caudal forked. 



ANTHIAS, 516. 



'. Pterygoids with a large patch of teeth; tongue toothed; parietal crest strong, 

 extending to above eye, posterior processes of premaxillary not reaching 

 the frontals; caudal truncate, with the outer rays much produced. 



OCYANTHIAS, 517. 



aa'. Lateral line interrupted, running close to the back, beginning again on caudal peduncle. 

 CRAMMING : 



f. Ventral rays I. 5;* preopercle serrate; caudal convex; scales rather large, somewhat 

 ctenoid; dorsal spines 12. GRAMMA, 518. 



RYPTICINJE : 



II. Anal spines wanting; dorsal spines 2 to 4 only; soft dorsal and anal long, the dorsal of 20 

 to 26 soft rays; the anal of 14 to 17; maxillary with a supplemental bone; the pre- 

 opercle with 2 or 3 spine-like hooks posteriorly, the scales small and embedded, the 

 teeth all villiform; preorbital narrow, no canine teeth; preopercle without angle 

 or serratures, its margin with 2 or 3 spinous teeth above; caudal fin rounded; scales 

 small, smooth, embedded; smooth area on top of head very large, transversely convex, 

 much longer than the low supraoccipital crest; interorbital area very narrow; 

 temporal ridges strong; lateral line normal; vertebrae 10+14. KYPTICUS, 519. 



491. ROCCUS, Mitchill. 

 (STRIPED BASS.) 



Rooms, MITCHILL, Fishes of New York, 25, 1814, (striMus = lineatus). 

 , RAFINESQUE, Ichthyologia Ohiensis, 23, 1820, (chrysops). 



Base of tongue with 1 or 2 patches of teeth ; anal spines graduated ; dorsal 

 fins entirely separate ; anal rays III, 11 or 12 ; supraoccipital crest scarcely 

 widened above; lower jaw projecting. Vertebras 12 + 13 = 25. Other- 

 wise as in Morone, the body more elongate, the scales smoother, and the 

 fin spines more slender than in the latter genus. Anal fin with 11 or 12 

 soft rays. Species all American, valued as food-fishes. In both Roccns 

 and Morone, the antrorse preopercular spines (characteristic of the Euro- 

 pean genus or subgeuus Dicentrarchus) are wanting. (From the vernac- 

 ular, Rockfish.) 



*The related group of Plesiopinse (Plesiops, Paraplesiops and Trachinops) have the ventral rays 

 I. 4 only. It may be that they do not belong to the Serranidx, in which case Gramma should 

 probably be detached also. 



