FISHES-SCORPAENIDAE—SCORPAENA GUTTATA. 
77 
SCOKPAENA GUTTATA, Grd. 
Plate XVII, Figs. 1 — 4. 
Spec. Char.— Posterior extremity of maxillary reaching a vertical line intersecting the posterior rim of the orbit. Soft 
portion of dorsal fin nearly as high as the spinous portion. Posterior extremities of dorsal and anal fins terminating evenly. 
Above, reddish brown ; beneath, yellowish brown. Black patches and spots disseminate 1 over the upper regions of head and 
body. 
Stn. — Scorpaena guttata , Grd. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. VII, 1854, 145. 
The body is about eleven inches in total length, the head forming the third of it. The head 
has a pretty rough appearance : in the first place, the orbits seem as if upheaved from the upper 
part of the scull, the middle line of which exhibits an excavated groove. Three spines are 
observed along the upper edge of the orbit, behind which three more may he seen on either side 
of the occipital region and nape. Several supra-tympanic spines, though small; two diverging 
ones upon the opercle, and four upon the limb of the preopercle, the uppermost of which being 
much the stoutest and longest. Next we see four other spines irradiating downwards from the 
sub-orbitals, and finally the nasal bones terminate into a sharp and acute point, directed upwards 
and slightly backwards. Intermingled with these numerous spines there are but two pairs of 
small membranous and arborescent flaps—we were going to say—adorning the head, but in 
reality contributing to render it still more repulsive to an eye unitiated to scientific pursuits : 
the first pair is situated above the posterior part of the orbit, whilst the second occupies the 
inner upper edge of the anterior nostril. The eye is large and elliptical, its horizontal 
diameter being comprised nearly five times in the length of the side of the head. The poste¬ 
rior extremity of the upper maxillary reaches a vertical line which would intersect the posterior 
rim of the orbit. The soft portion of the dorsal has nearly the same height as the spinous 
portion. The caudal is sub-rounded posteriorly. The tips of the posterior rays of the anal 
are even with those of the soft dorsal. The insertion of the ventrals is under the base of the 
pectorals ; they are elongated. The pectorals are broad and very much developed, their poste¬ 
rior extremity extending considerably beyond that of the ventrals. 
Br. VII: VII; D XII, 10 ; A III, 5 ; C 5, 1, 6, 5, 1, 3 ; V I, 5 ; P 18. 
The scales of the body are of medium size, and very small upon the occipital region and the 
head. The opercular apparatus is naked; scales being observed upon the posterior flap of 
the opercle only. 
The ground color is deep reddish brown above, yellowish brown beneath. The anterior por¬ 
tion of the back and head is almost black. Cloud-like patches of blackish, here and there, with 
numerous small black spots, more defined on the head than on the body, and much larger on 
the fins. The belly is of a dull white ; the throat yellowish ; the inferior surface of the head 
whitish and brownish. 
References to the figures .—Plate XVII, fig. 1, represents Scorpaena guttata , somewhat reduced 
in size. Fig. 2 is a scale from the dorsal region. Fig. 3, a scale from the lateral line. Fig. 4, 
a scale from the middle of the abdomen. 
