1456 Bulletin ^7, United States National Museum. 



developed ; maxillary extending to middle of pupil, 3J in head ; mouth 

 rather large, a little oblique, the lower jaw slightly included; preopercle 

 finely and evenly serrate, the seme flexible and not bony; gill rakers 

 slender and very short, scarcely as long as pupil, x-\- 12 in number; teeth 

 in moderate bands, some of the outer moderately enlarged above, some of 

 the inner ones below, these smaller than those of the upper jaw ; soft dorsal 

 and anal scaled at base only; dorsal spines moderate; second anal spine 

 small, 41- in head. Caudal lunate, its upper lobe the longer; pectoral 

 long, 1 in head ; color bluish above with faint dark horizontal streaks, 

 following the rows of scales; axil dark; fins pale. Pacific coast of South 

 America, from Panama to Peru. Said to be one of the most abundant food- 

 fishes on the coast of Peru. Most of the specimens examined are from 

 Callao, but a few from Panama (deliciosus, delicious.) 



Corvina deliciosa, TSCHUDI, Fauna Peruana Ichth., 8, 1845, Peru. 



Scicena deliciosa, GUNTHER, Cat., n, 295, I860; JORDAN & EIGENMANN, I. c., 406, 1889. 



Subgenus CHEILOTREMA, Tschudi. 

 1838. SCIJEiXA SATURNA* (Girard). 



(RED RONCADOR; BLACK CROAKER.) 



Head 3| ; depth 21 ; eye 4 to 5 in head. D. X-I, 27 ; A. II, 7 ; scales 10-55 

 to 60-17. Vertical fins low, much lower than in Scicena umbra, the mem- 

 branes of the dorsal and anal closely scaled ; caudal fin lunate, the upper 

 lobe the longer ; snout moderately blunt, much less obtuse than the related 

 Peruvian species Scicena fasciata, 3|- in head; body oblong, the back con- 

 siderably elevated ; profile steep, the nape convex ; preorbital broad, nearly 

 as wide as eye; teeth as in Scicena umbra, the bands broader; pharyngeal 

 teeth all conic, the inner series more or less enlarged ; gill rakers short, 

 thick, 6 -}- 9; dorsal spines gradually shortened behind the third, which is 

 2 to 2^ in head ; ventrals short, 1^ in head ; middle rays of soft dorsal longest, 

 2| in head ; second anal spine long and stout, 2 to 2 in head, not quite 

 reaching to tip of last ray ; first anal rays scarcely elongate, about 2 in 

 head ; pectorals broad, 1-J- to 1| in head ; all scales of head strongly ctenoid ; 

 a scaly sheath at base of anal and soft dorsal; caudal slightly convex, its 

 middle rays longest. Color blackish, with coppery luster, each scale with 

 a cluster of dark points ; an obscure, broad, pale cross band extending down- 

 ward from front of soft dorsal to tips of ventrals, this often fading with 

 age ; fins rather dark, belly silvery, dusted with dark specks ; suborbital 

 region coppery, with round, dark dots ; membrane about angle of opercle 

 jet black; tips of ventral and anal black. Coast of Southern California, 

 from Santa Barbara to Cerros Island. A food-fish of some importance, 

 reaching a length of 15 inches, (saturnua, dusky, saturnine.) 



Amblodon saturnus, GIRARD, U. S. Pac. R. R. Survey, x, 98, 1858, San Diego, California. 

 (Coll. A. Cassidy.) 



* Allied to this species is Scicena fasciata (Tsclmdi), a largo species of the coast of Peru, 

 with a very heavy head . Tlie European Scicena umbra, Linnams, is also closely related, 

 the vertical fins much higher. 



