448 THE PUR SEALS OP THE PRIBILOP ISLANDS. 



known to us. Nasal spines low, but strong. Ocular ridge low, evident only above front 

 of eye. Occipital ridges barely evident, evenly scaled over. Top of head otherwise 

 without spines, ridges, or furrows, the even convex curve unbroken. Vertical distance 

 from middle of interorbital space to upper edge of orbit equaling half vertical diam- 

 eter of orbit. Anterior margin of preorbital with two rounded lobes which do not 

 bear spinous points. Preopercular spines very strong, the upper two closely approxi- 

 mate, the others widely separated. All the spines are sharp pointed, the uppermost 

 very wide at base, the second much narrower, the others short and wide. Upper two 

 spines directed backward, the three lower downward and backward. Opercular 

 spines strong, flat, often bifid or trifld. Spines on adjacent angles of subopercle and 

 interopercle sometimes bifid; behind these on margin of subopercle a few short spinous 

 points. Gill rakers very long and slender, 11+29 in number, the anterior one or two 

 of lower arch tubercular; the longest (22 mm.) more than two- thirds diameter of orbit. 

 Mandible very heavy, the symphysis not produced, the two jaws subequal. Vomerine 

 and palatine patches of teeth extremely narrow. 



Head, 3^ in length ; depth, 2^. Eye, 4§ in head, 1^ in snout. Interorbital width, 

 3| in head. D., XIV, 16; A., Ill, 8. Lateral line with 56 pores. Highest dorsal 

 spine, 2 J in head; thirteenth spine, 4|; fourteenth spine, 3§; second anal spine, 3|; 

 third anal spine, 3^; longest soft ray of dorsal, 1-^. 



Fins high, the third to seventh dorsal spines subequal. Caudal very slightly 

 emarginate. Anal spines graduated. Pectorals scarcely reaching vertical from vent, 

 the lower 9 simple, the 10 upper forked. Ventral not reaching vent, two- thirds length 

 of head. Caudal scaled to tip on membranes and rays. Soft dorsal and anal with 

 narrow bands of scales following the rays to or nearly to their tips, the membranes of 

 the first three or four rays in each fin wholly scaled on basal third. Spinous dorsal 

 naked. Pectorals scaled on basal half; ventrals naked. Of the head, the maxillary 

 and mandible, the branchiostegal rays, the anterior and upper half of interopercle and 

 all of preorbital except a minute area along its posterior margin are naked. The 

 body is covered with small weakly ctenoid scales, largely covered over by the extra- 

 ordinarily developed accessory scales. Scales on breast, belly, and prepectoral area 

 smooth. The naked skin covering bones of head is minutely wrinkled or pappilose. 



Color in spirits light brownish on body and fins, with darker shades on lips, gill 

 membranes, opercles, and top of head. It may have been reddish in life. Mouth and 

 gill cavity white. Peritoneum jet black. 



We prefer at present not to separate this species from Sebastodes on the strength 

 of the increased number of dorsal spines. 



Family HEXAGRAMMID^E. 



62. Hezagrammos stelleri Tilesius. 



Bexagrammos asper (Steller) Tilesius, Act. Acad. Petrop. II, 340, 1810. 

 Ldbrax hexagrammus Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso- Asiat. Ill, 284, 1811. 

 Chiropsia nehulosws Girard, V. 8. Pac. E. E. Surv., Fishes, 45. 

 Chirus irigrammus Cope, Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc, Phila., 1873, 29. 

 Hexagrammos liexagrammus Jordan and Evermann, Checklist, 434. 



Two specimens from Petropaulski; several specimens from dnalaska and Karluk. 

 This species seems much less abundant along the shores of Bering Sea than H. octo- 

 grammus (ordhmtus). The Petropaulski specimens give the following data: Dorsal 

 XXII, 21; XXIII, 20; anal 23, 24; pectoral, 20. Cheeks scaled above and behind the 

 suborbital stay, naked in front of and including the stay, except for a small patch of 



