2152 Bulletin 4.7 , United States National Museum, 



first spine not serrate; caudal truncate. Head 2| in length; 

 depth 2|. D. X-12; A. 12. Pores about 50. Back obscurely 

 spotted ; dorsal and caudal fins spotted with brown, the first 

 dorsal with a black blotch besides; the pectoral with obscure 

 dark spots, and margined with blue. PUNCTATUS, 2497. 



tt. First 3 dorsal spines more or less serrate ; gill rakers rather long, 

 about 8 developed; maxillary about 2| in head; a groove 

 behind eye; interorbital space narrow, f eye; third dorsal 

 spine high, \ head. D. X-12; A. 11. Pores 50. Color brown- 

 ish yellow; spinous dorsal with a black blotch; pectoral 

 with 2 longitudinal broad dark areas separated and sur- 

 rounded by paler. BEANII, 2498. 

 BS. Spines on bones of head elevated, knife-like; head very large, 

 more than f length; temporal ridge with 2 bluntish spines; 

 Jbones of the head very sharply striate; young with 4 sharp, 

 knife-like spines on side of cheek and snout, in a line before 

 the preocular spine, these nearly disappearing with age ; maxil- 

 lary about 2^ in head; sides without dark longitudinal stripe, 

 tt. Pectoral fin moderate, about \ body in adult, 2 in young; gill 

 rakers slender in the young, becoming shorter and thicker 

 with age, about 10 developed on lower part of arch ; head 

 broad, the spines on its upper surface very prominent, all 

 of them more or less compressed and knife-like, especially 

 in the young. Second dorsal spine 2 in head; head 2; 

 depth 4^. D. X-12; A. 11. Body brownish, much mottled 

 with grayish and dusky, and with 3 or 4 obscure dark 

 cross bands; head and dorsal fins with many dark spots; 

 caudal with 2 dusky shades; free rays of pectoral spotted. 



TEIBULUS, 2499. 



uu. Pectoral fin short, about 3 in body ? gill rakers long and slen- 

 der, 5 developed ; scales small, 100 ; spines as in P. tribulus, 

 but still larger and more knife-like, much larger than in 

 any other species ; pectoral fins reaching third anal ray; 

 interorbital space broad, little concave, about as wide as 

 eye. Body brownish ; no black blotch on spinous dorsal; 

 soft dorsal and caudal barred, pectoral with a broad black 

 band. HQRJRENS, 2500. 



Subgenus GURNARDUS, Jordan & Evermann. 

 2480. PRIONOTUS BIROSTRATUS, Richardson. 



Head 3 ; depth 5. D. IX-12 ; A. 1, 10 ; C. 10. Body slender and elongate ; 

 width at nape between costal spines 5| in head; head long, profile before 

 eyes concave, the snout with a projecting lobe on each side, the lobe 

 longer and narrower than in any other species, its length eye; a back- 

 ward projecting spine at base, besides numerous retrorse seme along its 

 sides; surface of bones very rough; mouth small; maxillary barely 

 head, not reaching front of eye; eye 4 in head; interorbital space very 

 narrow, deeply concave, granular, striate, its length f eye, 7 in head; 

 orbital rim elevated, with a stout spine anteriorly, before which are 3 or 4 

 others forming a raised ridge; a stout spine above posterior part of orbit, 

 another behind orbit; still another on the occipital beyond ridge; 2 or 3 

 blunt spines behind eye; a stout spine on opercle which reaches slightly 

 beyond base of the still larger humeral spine; a stout spine on preopercle 



