178 MR. J. Y. JOHNSON ON NEW GENERA AND SPECIES [JuHC 10, 



head is large, being contained in the length only 2f times. It is 

 scaleless, and without prominent spines on the vertex ; the bones are 

 cavernous ; the space between the eyes is flat and marked by several 

 low ridges. At the back of the head are two broad flat spines point- 

 ing backwards. • 



The eye is contained 5^ times in the head, and is distant from the 

 tip of the scaleless snout about a diameter and a half. The space be- 

 tween the eyes is considerably more than equal to the diameter, and is 

 to the length of the head as 1 to 4^. There are no spines above the 

 postero-superior part of the orbit. The snout is rounded and trun- 

 cate ; its length is equal to one-third of the length of the head. 

 There is a skinny appendage at the posterior margin of the anterior 

 nostril. The opercle is scaly, and is crossed by two strong crests 

 terminating in long spines, which reach up to its edge ; the higher 

 of these spines is to the length of the head as to 1 to 7-g-. At the 

 border of the scaly preopercle there are five spines, pointing back- 

 wards, of which the three highest are long, narrow, and parallel, the 

 middle one of the three being equal in length to the larger of the 

 opercular spines : these five spines occupy the position of those of 

 Sebastes dactylopterus. 



The mouth is moderately large. The maxillary is broad below, is 

 vertically truncate, and reaches back to the posterior margin of the 

 eye. The under jaw is a trifle longer than the upper, which is notched 

 in front. Both jaws, the palatines, and the vomer are set with bands 

 of villiform teeth. The tongue is free near the apex, is very thick, 

 and has a thin spatuliform projection in front similar to that seen in 

 front of the tongue of S. Jcuhlii, which, however, does not reach so 

 far forward as in the case of the present species. The tongue and 

 pharynx are black. The branchiostegal membrane, when the mouth 

 is closed, is almost concealed by the opercular pieces and the very 

 broad mandibular bones. 



The dorsal fin is long, commencing before the root of the pectoral ; 

 its spines are stout, and the soft portion rounded. The anal fin is 

 short, and terminates opposite the termination of the dorsal fin ; its 

 third spine is the longest, and is to the length of the head as 1 to 3^, 

 but it is shorter than the first three soft rays. The pectoral fin is 

 broad and long, reaching back to the commencement of the anal fin, 

 its length being to the total length as 1 to 3f . The first two and 

 the last five rays are simple, the others branched. The tenth, 

 eleventh, and twelfth rays are the longest, and the last rays are the 

 shortest. None of them project beyond the membrane. The ventral 

 fins are placed together under the roots of the pectoral fins ; they are 

 pointed, and extend over rather more than half the distance between 

 their roots and the commencement of the anal fin. The spine is stout ; 

 the two first soft rays longer than the others. The caudal fin is 

 truncate, and is scaly only at the base. The vent is far back, being 

 under the base of the twelfth dorsal spine. 



The scales are very small, and cycloid, offering no roughness to the 

 finger when drawn from tail to head. The broad and scaleless lateral 

 line descends gently from the shoulder to the tail, where it is straight; 



