Description of <I>Sebastichthys mystinus</I>

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70 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

Family TETRODONTID^.

269. Cirrhisomuspolitus (Ayres)^J.

&

^G.

:^rotobtained

by

us.

A

specimenin collectionofCalifornia

Academy,

from

San

Diego.

Family

DIODOXTID^.

270. Diodon maculatasLac.

One

specimen, fromnear

San

Diego.

Family ORTHAGORISCID^.

271. MolarotundaOlivier.

—

Siinjish; Mola.

Abundant

in Santa Barbara Cbaunel in

summer;

oftenseen playing nearthe surface,

and

even leaj)ing fromthe water; notoftentaken, as they aienoteasily caughE

and

not usedfor food. Eeaches aweightof 200

pounds

ormore.

United States

I!^ationax,

Museum,

December 1, 1880.

I>ESCRai»TIOIV

OF SEBASTICHTHYS

MYSTIIVIIS.

By DAVBI>

§.

JORDAN

^asid

CHAKLES H. GII.BERT'.

Sebastichthys mystinus.

SebastesvariabilisAyres, Proc. Cal.Acad. Nat. Sci.i,7,1854 (not ofPallas,

=

Epine2)ltelus ciliatus Tilesius).

Sebastodesmelanops Ayres, Proc. Cal.Acad. Nat. Sci.ii,216(inpart; probably not thefigure68,which moreresemblesS.mdanops; notSebastesmelanops Girard,

=

iS'e&asto8o?n«ssimulansGill).

SebastichthysmelanopsJordan &. Gilbert, Proc.U.S. Nat. Mus. iii, 1880, 289, andelsewhere.

Sebastichthys mystinus Jordan

&

Gilbert,Proc. U. S. Nat.Mus.iii,1880,445;

1881,^8.

Two

specieshave been confounded

by

previouswritersunderthe

name

of Sebastes or Sebastosomus melanops.

The

one, darker in color, with smaller

mouth and

blackperitoneum, isfound from

Puget Sound

to

San

Diego,being most

common

^southward,

and

^is perhapsthe most abun- dantspecies ofthegenus onthecoast.

The

other,paler

and

morespotted, withlarger

mouth

andwhitei)eritoneuin,rangesfromMontereytoSitka, beingmost

common

^northward.

The

first is the

"Peche

Pretre'^ofthe Monterey fishermen, the second the

"Black

Bass" of the anglers of

Puget

Sound.

The

first is referred to by us as Sebastichthys melanops on page 289

and

elsewhere in these Proceedings (Vol. Ill); the second as Sebastichthys simulans.

The

original description

by

Girard of his Sebastesmelanops^however, canrefer onlyto the secondfish,asis

shown

by

the followingstatements (U. S. Pac. U. R. Expl. ^Fishes,81):

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PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

71

"Upper

surface of Lead spineless;" "tbeposteriorextremityof the maxillary, very

much

dilated,extendsto avertical line

drawn

inwardly to theposteriorrimof the orbit." "

The

pectorals arcbroad^• ^* ^* ^* the tipofthese fins extends almostas fiir as the tip of theventrals.''

*'

The

upper surfaceofthehead

and

of thedorsal regionabove thelat- eral lineare almost blaclj, or else of a purplish black.

The

sideof the

body

isyellowish, withan irregular ])urpli8hblack spot

upon

nearlyall.

thescales.

The

side of the head is of a lighter purplishblack.

The

inferiorregion isofa soiled yellow,thoughof ametallic hue.

The

fins areunicolor,ofdarkpurpletint."

The

^"Peche Pietre" has apreorbital protuberance, which usually ends in a spine; the

"Black

Bass"has neitherprotuberance nor spine.

The mouth

is smaller in the

"Peche

Pretre", the maxillary barely extending to the posteriormarginof the

jiupil.

The

pectoraltins are longer in the

"Peche

Pretre", extending past thetips oftheventrals; inthe other notsoiar.

And,

finally,omit- ting the expression " purplish", whichscarcely applies toany rock-fish, the account of thecolordescribesthe "BlackBass", butnot the

"Peche

Pretre".

Furthermore,theoriginal^fypeofGirard's description,thelargespeci-

men

from Astoria, is still preserved in the National

Museum, and

its identity with thespecies formerlycalled

by

usS.simulansis undoubted.

The

originaltype of the

name

Scbastosomus simulansis also preserved.

Itbelongs to the

same

species, differingonly in having the lower oper- cularspine

somewhat

less conspicuous than usual.

The

northern fisb,

the

"Black

Bass"of

Puget

Sound, must, therefore,retain the

name

of Sebastichthys melanops, of which

name

simulans isa synonym, whilethe

"PechePretre^"

may

receivethe

new name

of Sebastichthys mystinus. Se- bastichthysciliatus [Epinc][.helus ciliatus Tilesius

=

PercavariabilisPallas) isrelated tobothspecies, butdistinctfromboth,havingtheblack i^erito-

neum

of mystinus, but lackingthe bulge of thepreorbital region.

The mouth

is larger than in mystinus^ but smaller than in melanops, while thecoloration isdifferent fromboth.

DESCRIPTION OF SEBASTICHTHYS MYSTINUS.

Body

oval-oblong, compressed,bothdorsal

and

ventral outline evenly curved.

Head

conic, compressed, the profile almost straight.

Mouth

comparatively small,oblique, the lower

jaw

protruding;

mouth

^entirely belowtheaxisof the body; i)remaxillaries on the lineof the lower rim of the orbit; maxillary thickly scaled, reaching to opposite posterior margin of i)upil; mandiblescaly.

Top

of head without spines, with the exception of the very small nasalpair,

and

sometimes a preocular j^air; theinterorbital spaceper- fectlyarched,

and

theentire top of the head covered with verysmall, crowdedscales; the preocularridgeformingaprojectionovertheupper anteriorangleoftheorbit.

The

forehead betweenthe preocularridges is notably full

and

convex.

The

occijntal ridgeformstwo slightlydl-

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72 PEOCEEDIXGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

verging ridges under the scales. Preorbital with a smallsi)iue, which

is sometimesobsolete.

Preopercle with rather strong spines, the two at the anglelongest.

Opercle withtwostrong spines. Suprascapularspines present.

Gill-rakers numerous, long

and

very strong, their length half the diameter of theeye, their

number

about _./V.

Scales smaller than in most of the species, in about 66 transverse series.

Spinous dorsal low, the fourth to seventh spines highest, all lower thanthe soft dorsal, the fin not deeply emarginate. Third anal spine slightlylongerthan the second, but not so strong. Caudal tin emarginate. Pectoralfins long, reaching

beyond

thetips of the veutrals to the base of the tenth dorsal spine. Ventrals not reaching to thevent.

Finrays: D. XII, 1,15; A. Ill,9.

Color slaty black, becoming lighter below the lateral line. Belly scarcely pale. Sides often

somewhat

mottled. Tip of lower

jaw

black.

Top

of head with three indistinct cross-bars: onein frontof eyes, con- tinued around anterior rim of orbit,

and

extending backwards across the cheeks; one between the orbits, reappearing below in a second oblique cheek-band; thethird across occiput,extendingobliquelyback- wardstothe upperangle of theopercle. Fins plain dusky.

Peritoneum black, as in *S'. ovalis, S. eiitonielas,

and

S. ciliatus. In S.melanops

and

its near relative ^S'.flavidusthe peritoneum is always white.

United States National Museum,

January5, 1881.

DJKSCRDPTffOiV

OF A

^IVEAV

SPECIES OE PTVCHOniSI>lJS (PTVCHO-

ccaat-us

hakfokda), ebo:« sacbauei^to river.

By DAVID

^S.

JOISDAIV and CHARLES H. OILBEKT.

Ptychochilus ^harfordi,^sp.^nov.

Alliedto Pt. oregonensis (Rich.),but with

much

smallerscales.

Body

long

and

slender, little compressed, the backnot elevated, the caudalpeduncle large

and

stout. Greatestdepth of

body

contained ^{5'^}

timesinitslength fromsnoutto base of caudal.

Head

long,pike-like, subconic, rather slender, broad

and

depressed above.

Length

of head contained4times inlengthtobaseofcaudal Motithterminal, oblique, the lower

jaw somewhat

projecting. Premaxillary anteriorly on the level of the eye. Maxillary, as inotherspecies, closely adherentto the preorbital,except nearits end, where^it slipsunder the preorbital, its tipextendingjust

beyond

theverticalfrom the frontoftheeye.

Length

of cleft of

mouth

contained 2| times in length of head. Interorbital width32 timesin the lengtho1 head.

Eye

small,placedhigh,itsdiam- eter contained 3 times in the length of thesnout, 10 times in that of the head. Cheeks very broad. Lips normal, as in otherspecies of the