Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 1871 



2200. HEXAGRAMMOS STELLERI, Tilesius. 



(GrREENLING.) 



Head 3- ; depth 4*. D. XXIII (XXII to XXV), 19 to 21; A. 23 or 24; 

 scales 110. Form rather slender. Maxillary reaching past front of eye, 

 about to pupil. No teeth on palatines. Scales all strongly ctenoid, except 

 on sides of head; cheeks and opercles largely naked, a patch of scales on 

 upper portions of cheek and opercles, and a small patch sometimes pres- 

 ent on middle of cheek. First and fourth lateral lines very short, varia- 

 ble, the first rarely extending beyond middle of spinous dorsal, the fourth 

 to middle of ventrals, rarely beyond; lower line forked in front of mid- 

 dle of ventrals. Caudal iin narrow, emarginate when closed, less densely 

 scaled than in other species, the scales large, in single series; commonly 9 

 scales in an oblique series between median line and the one above it; scales 

 on sides of head, breast, and prepectoral area smooth, elsewhere strongly 

 ctenoid. Dorsal fins less deeply notched; caudal peduncle narrow, the 

 depth less than length of snout. Supraocular flap small, shorter than 

 diameter of pupil. Color in varying shades of gray and brown or light 

 reddish, blotched, marbled, or barred with dusky, and usually with numer- 

 ous round' silvery spots nearly as large as pupil. In brightly marked speci- 

 mens there is a series of quadrate dusky blotches along base of dorsal fin, 

 continued on base of fin, much as in //. octoyrammua. Like the latter, there 

 are radiating dark streaks around the eye, of which the 2 anterior are 

 the most conspicuous and permanent ; no humeral spot. North Pacific * 



second, third, and fifth; the first extends to opposite the middle of the second dorsal; the 

 fourth commences below and in front of the basis of the pectoral, and extends to a point 

 a little behind that measured by the extremity of that tin; the inferior series of opposite 

 sides converge and unite a little behind the^basis of the veutrals into a single median 

 line, which extends to the branchiostegal fold. The scales are elongate, and nearly 

 truncate distally ; on the sides they are in oblique series, but near the dorsal fin from 3 

 to 5 rows exhibit scales superposed vertically. General color pale orange, with ill-defined 

 blackish shade on the sides, and 7 quadrate blackish spots at the base of the dorsal fin , 

 below bright yellow; dorsal and caudal fin yellowish at base, margins with a broad black- 

 ish bund ; 3 black spots on the middle of the first, and 4 on the middle of the second dorsal 

 (in; anal yellow, with 7 blackish blotches extending anteriorly across the rays; pectoral 

 yellow, with brown spots on the rays and a black one at the base in front; eye with 5 

 blackish radii, diverging, 2 anteriorly, 1 upward and backward, 1 backward, and 1 down- 

 ward and backward. Length 14 inches. 



* Dr. Gilbert adds the following notes on Alaska specimens : 



"Young individuals were dredged in large numbers in the shallow waters of Bristol 

 Bay, at depths of from 4 to 14^ fathoms. Seining parties brought it in but once, a single 

 young individual, and 1 adult appearing at Unalaska among the prevalent Hexagrammos 

 octogrammus. The largest individuals dredged, measure about 125 mm. ; the adult from 

 Unalaska 345 mm. in length. The characters of the species seem very constant. The 

 dorsal varies from XXIIi; 19 to XXIV, 21; the anal from 23 to 24. In 16 specimens the 

 dorsal formula runs as follows : XXIir,19 ; XXIII, 19; XXIII, 20; XXIII, 20 ; XXIII, 



20 ; XXIII, 20 ; XXIII, 20 ;XXIII, 20 ; XXIII, 20 ; XXIII, 21 ; XXIII, 21 ; XXIII, 21 ; XXIII 



21; XXIV, 20; XXIV, 20; XXIV, 20. The anal fin shows the following counts in 12 

 specimens : 23, 23, 23, 23, 23, 23, 24, 24, 24, 24, 24, 24. The body in the young is much more 

 slender than in H. octngrammus, is lighter in color, and lacks the round humeral spot pres- 

 ent in the latter. The supraocular flap is somewhat smaller, the cheek more extensively 

 naked, the eye larger, and the mucous canal system less strongly developed. The snout, 

 cheeks, opercles, and lower side of head are naked, with the exception of a patch of small 

 loosely imbricated scales, on the upper posterior part of cheek and the upper third of pper- 

 cles. The dorsal line of pores is very inconspicuous, and terminates in front of the middle 

 of spinous dorsal. In none of our specimens are there traces of a line of pores on middle of 

 sides. The species can be distinguished at once from all others by the slender caudal 

 peduncle, the shallow notch between dorsals, the fin formulae, the short upper line of pores, 

 which ends under anterior half of spinous dorsal, the largely naked cheeks and opercles, the 

 simple uubrauched fourth lateral line, and the extreme roughness of the scales." 



