1796 Bulletin 47, United States National Museum. 



from 4 specimens,* 1| to 2 feet long, dredged in 110 fathoms in Shelikof 

 Strait, Alaska, off Karluk, Kadiak Island, July 20, 1897. (Coll. A Watross. ) 

 It is nearest Sebastodcs miniatw, but differs from that and all other Ameri- 

 can species in the increased number of cranial spines, and especially in 

 the presence of spines below the eye. It is evident that this is the red 

 species wrongly identified by Pallas as the adult of his Perca rariaMlis, 

 the Epinephelus ciliatus of Tilesius. One of Pallas's specimens from the 

 Aleutian Islands has been examined by Dr. Jordan in Berlin and de- 

 scribed under the name, doubtless erroneous, Sebastodes matzubarcc, the 

 true matzubarrce being a Japanese species. 



Perca variabilis, PALIAS, Zoogr. Eosso-Asiat., ill, 241, 1811, Aleutian Islands; in part; the 

 supposed adult or summer form. (Specimen, No. 8145, Mus. Berl.) 



Sebastodes matzubarce, JORDAN, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1883, 291 ; JORDAN, Cat. Fish. N". 

 A., 108, 1885 ; probably not Sebastes matzubarce HILGENDORF, Sitzgber. Ges. Naturf. 

 Freunde, Berlin, 1880, 170, from Yesso. 



2198. SEBASTODES ATRORTJBENS, Gilbert, new species. 



Head 2^; depth 2. Snout 4f in total length of head; eye 4; interor- 

 bital width 5; least width of preorbital 2 in pupil. D. XIII, 14; A. Ill, 

 7; P. 17; oblique rows of scales above lateral line 45. Body deep, com- 

 pressed, its greatest thickness about | its greatest depth. Caudal peduncle 

 very deep, compressed, its least depth about greatest depth of body, and 

 greater than length of peduncle behind base of dorsal fin. Head wide, 

 heavy, its upper profile descending in a gently convex curve from front 

 of dorsal, the occipital area slightly depressed, but not transversely flat- 

 tened. Inter orbital region and occiput strongly convex transversely, the 

 former with a shallow channel running parallel with each orbital margin. 

 Lower jaw projecting beyond the upper, the tip entering the profile. No 

 symphyseal knob. Maxillary reaching a vertical drawn midway between 

 hinder margin of the eye and back of pupil, its length, measured from tip 

 of snout, equaling length of snout and eye, and length of head to end 

 of upper opercular spine. Preopercular spine short, regularly radiating, 

 the second and third longest diverging, the uppermost very short, about 

 equaling the fourth. Preorbital with 2 very wide strong spines directed 

 downward and backward. Cranial ridges low and inconspicuous, but 

 evident throughout and terminating in strong spines. The nasal, pre- 

 ocular, postocular, and parietal alone are present. Gill rakers long and 

 slender, 9+22 on anterior arch, the longest 2 in orbit. Dorsal spines 

 high, slender, flexible, the fourth, fifth, and sixth equal in their height, 

 which equals length of snout and eye. Outline of the spious dorsal 

 regularly convex, much as in Perca. Membranes not deeply incised. A 



* The following description is from a specimen in the Berlin Museum brought by Pallas 

 from the Aleutian Islands : "D. XIII, 14 ; A. Ill, 7. Spines of head low, developed about 

 as m Sebastodes miniatus and pinniger. Preocular, supraocular, postocular, tympanic, 

 occipital, and nuchal spines distinct; a pair of small coronal spines present, as also a 

 small spine before and one just below eye. Maxillary reaching to posterior border of eye 

 If in head. Both jaws covered with rough, ctenoid scales. Interorbital space flatfish, 

 scaled its breadth a little less than that of eye. Preopercular spine short, simple. Pre- 

 orbital spines simple. Lower jaw scarcely projecting. Second anal spine scarcely longer 

 than third. Longest dorsal spine 2| in head, a little less than the longest short rays. 

 Pectoral 4 m body. Color chiefly red; 3 dark shades across cheek." 



