1440 Bulletin 47, United States National Miiseum. 







g. Pectoral fin long, 1 in head ; body deep, compressed ; head short, 

 deep, more compres8ed than in related species, the interor- 

 bital space Jess depressed, its width 3* in head, the supra- 

 ocular ridges less prominent. D. XI-I, 19. STELLIFER, 1824. 

 gg. Pectoral fin short, about If in head; interorbital space 3 in 

 head ; second anal spine 2J ; body rather slender ; snout as 

 long as eye, 4^ in head; mouth moderate, oblique, the max- 

 illary not quite \ length of head, extending just past pupil. 

 D. XI-I, 20 to 23. LANCEOLATDS, 1825. 



ff. Preopercle with numerous short, straight spinules, which decrease 

 in size regularly from angle upward; mouth terminal, the max- 

 illary 2 in head; head extremely spongy, pectorals \\ in head. 

 D. XII-I, 23 or 24. ERICYMBA, 1826. 



ee. Mouth small, inferior, nearly horizontal, the maxillary 3 to 3 in head; 

 snout thick, blunt, and protuberent; eye small, 5 to 6 in head; teeth 

 on preopercle subequal ; preorbital thick and swollen, much broader 

 than eye; body moderately elongate. D. X-I, 19. MICROPS, 1827. 

 STELLTCARENS (stella, star ; carens, lacking) : 



III. Preopercle without bony serrse, or with a single somewhat flexible point. 

 D. XII-19; mouth large, oblique; head narrow, very spongy; pec- 

 torals 1 in head. ZESTOCARUS, 1828. 



Subgenus ZESTIS, Gilbert. 

 1821. STELLIFER OSCITAN8 (Jordan & Gilbert). 



Head 3f ; depth 3; eye 4 in head; snout 4. D. XI-I, 22; A. II, 8; 

 scales 6-53-9, 47 pores. Body oblong, the back somewhat elevated ; head 

 very wide and heavy, almost quadrate, flat above; cheeks nearly vertical; 

 cranium above, as well as preorbital and preopercle, cavernous, yielding 

 to the touch; snout heavy, projecting a little beyond premaxillaries, 

 much broader than long, its length 4 in head; interorbital space very 

 broad and flat, its breadth 2| times in length of head; greatest width of 

 head its greatest height; eye moderate, its diameter equal to the 

 interorbital space; supraorbital rim slightly elevated. 



Mouth very wide and oblique, the lower jaw included; length of gape 

 twice in length of head; premaxillaries anteriorly on the level of the 

 lower part of pupil; maxillary reaching well beyond the posterior margin 

 of the orbit; chin with a small but distinct knob, the pores around it 

 not well marked. Teeth small, not forming villiforin bands, in 2 rather 

 irregular series in each jaw, the outer teeth in upper jaw somewhat 

 enlarged, the large teeth fewer in number and larger than in S. furthi. 

 Gill rakers numerous, very fine and slender, the largest about f diameter 

 of orbit, 21 -f- 27. Pseudobranchise quite small. Preopercle with its angle 

 evenly rounded, the upper and lower limbs nearly equal, the membrana- 

 ceous margin minutely serrulate; above the angle is a short, very strong 

 spine directed backwards, and at the angle is a similar one directed 

 obliquely downward and backward ; no other stiff spines on the preopercle. 

 First and second spines of the dorsal strong and inflexible, second spine 

 about . length of head; third spine longest, about | as long as head, 

 and like the succeeding spines very slender and flexible; eleventh and 

 twelfth spines longer and stronger than the tenth; soft dorsal anteriorly 



