170 bulletin of the bureau of fisheries. 
Suborder SclEroparei. 
SCORPjENID^E. Scorpion fishes. 
In this family the scales may be fully ctenoid, or may entirely lose the teeth. 
Subfamily SEBASTINAL 
Sebastes Cuvier, rosefish. S. marinus (Linnaeus) from Woods Hole (V. N. Edwards), has small oblong 
scales with five basal radii, very widely spaced circuli, and three or four very large and stout apical 
spines (fig. 74). The apical circuli are angled in the middle. 
Sebastodes Gill. Mr. A. R. Moore very kindly sent a number of species of Sebastodes from California, 
showing that the genus has rather large scales, very strongly ctenoid, with very numerous, strong 
and crowded apical teeth, and the ctenoid patch with several rows of distinct elements (fig. 76). 
The basal radii are fairly numerous. 
Fig. 42. —Sebastes marinus (Scorpaenidae). Apical struc- Fig. 43. —Sebastodes paucispints (Scorpaenidae). 
tures. Bureau of Fisheries. California. 
Mr. Moore sent 5 . paucispinis (Ayres), S', flavidus (Ayres), S. mystinus Jordan & Gilbert, 5 . 
ruberrimus Cramer, S. constellatus (Jordan & Gilbert), S. rosaceus (Girard), S. carnatus (Jordan & Gil¬ 
bert), and S. nebulosus (Ayres), and although the scales of all these were carefully examined by 
Miss Evelyn Moore and myself, we could find no satisfactory specific characters. 
Subfamily SCORP2ENIN2E. 
Scorpcena Linnaeus. S. plumieri Bloch, from Katama Bay, has small scales a little over 1 mm. long, and 
about 1 mm. broad, with coarse but dense circuli, and about seven basal radii. The circuli fail 
in the apical field, and the margin is cycloid, with, however, occasional rudiments of minute teeth. 
Helicolenus Goode & Bean. H. dactylopterus (De la Roche), from off Woods Hole, in gulf weed, has 
comparatively large scales, oval in form, about 4 mm. long and 3 wide. They are cycloid, and 
formed much as in Scorpcena, but with about 13 basal radii. The apical field is covered with little 
tubercles, resulting from the breaking up of the apical circuli. The basal circuli are very minutely 
beaded. Jordan & Evermann state that this genus has ctenoid scales on the top and sides of the 
head, which is not true of Scorpcena. 
So far as the scales go Sebastodes should be in the most primitive of the above genera. 
