302 Notes on Some Fishes of the Coast of California. [May, 
absent, and the dark and light tints of the sides of the body are 
mingled together without any regularity. This is one ‘of the 
smallest of the genus, but has been known to reach the weight of 
seven pounds, 
Sebastes nigrocinctus Ayres, black-banded rock cod.—This is 
one of the rarest of our edible fishes, as only single individuals 
are brought to the market at considerable intervals of time. 
Only two specimens have hitherto come under my notice, and 
one of these has the black transverse bands much more developed 
than the other. It is not taken inside the bay. 
Sebastes rosaceus Girard, smooth red rock cod.—This species 
appears to attain a larger size than any of its congeners except 
S: ruber, which it equals in length but not in weight, as it is more 
‘slender and seldom or never exceeds fourteen pounds in weight. 
S. rosaceus is taken outside the heads. _ 
Sebastes melanops Girard, black rock cod.—This fish does not 
usually attain so large a size as S. ruber or S. rosaceus, at least in 
the locality where it is usually taken, viz: within the bay of San 
Francisco. It is one of the commonest kinds of rock-fish. 
Sebastes ruber Ayres, rough red rock cod.—This, the largest 
of the genus occurring in our waters, is stated to reach, though 
rarely, a weight of twenty-five pounds. It is of a uniform bright 
red, very different from the brownish-red mingled with orange- 
red, which forms the livery of S. rosaceus. In form it is stouter 
than S. rosaceus but less so than S. fasciatus. It is taken outside 
the bay, usually from deep water around the Farallone islands. 
It occurs also northward at least as far as Humboldt bay. 
Sebastes auriculatus Gir., black-shouldered rock cod.—This is 
rather a small species, seldom exceeding eighteen inches in 
length, and is brought to the markets in great abundance, 
probably on account of its common occurrence in the bay. Not 
only does this species occur, together with two or three others of 
the smaller kinds of Sedastes and the young of the larger kinds, 
in the deeper portions of the bay near the entrance, but it is also 
abundant along the eastern shore of the bay, where no other spe- 
cies of the genus is found, probably on account of the admixture 
of fresh water from the Sacramento river. 
Sebastes helvomaculatus Ayres, pink-spotted rock cod.—This 
is smaller even than S. fasciatus, not equaling it in length and of 
much more slender form. The three elongated pink spots along 
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