Description of a new hake (<I>Phycis earllii</I>), from south California, and a note on the occurrence of <I>Phycis regius</I> in North Carolina

(1)

PEOCEEDIXGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 69

Dr:f§t'K5B»TI©IV

OF A

^{IVEl^'} ^I3.%KE (PIIYCflS EAK!.!.!!), FKOITI

S05JTH

€AKOB>B?iA,ArifD

A NOTE

©rtf

THE

Ot'C'l'BSSEI^l'E

OF

PBIVCDS REfJBUS

C.-V i\-©KTE!I I'AKOHIVA.

By TAKI.ETOIV

EI.

BEAM.

1. Phyci3 eaiil-i Dmui.

Tho

United States^STational

Museum

lias justreceived from Mr.R. E.

Earll tliree specimensof a species of Fhycls which differ from all the other recognized eastern

American

species. Itis quiteunlike P. tennis, P. chnss,

and

P. chesteri, since noneof the rays of thefirst dorsal are produced.

In

the shapeof theanteriordorsal

and

the general formof the

body

it resembles P..rcr/ius, from which, however, it

may

beatonce distiuguished

by

its

much

smaller scales.

From

P.

DeKayi Kaup

^itis

well separated

by

thestructure of itsanterior dorsal,

and by

havingthe veutralsshorterthanthe head.

The

speciesdifl'ersalsofromP.rostratus Gthr. in havinga

much

greater

number

of scales between the anterior dorsal

and

thelateralline.

3Ir. Earll secured these lish in themarketof Cliarlestou.

They

were

numbered

131in his collecting invoice,

and

arecatalogued as

numbers

25207, 25208,

and

25209 of the

M

useuui Register.

The

species isdedi- cated to its discoverer,

who

firstcollectedit

and

calledattention toits specific distinctnessfrom the four

known

eastcoast forms.

Description.

— Thespecies isshort and stout,resembling in thisre- spectP. regins. Thegreatestheight of thebodyequals twice the length of the longest ray of the anterior dorsal, andis contained 5 timesinthe total length, caudal included. Thelength of thehead is contained3|

times in the length of the body, measured to theorigin of the middle caudalrays.

The

length of the snout equals the distance betweenthe eyes.

The

length of the upper

jaw

equals half that of the head.

The

length of the eyeis contained nearly twicein length of snout,CJ times inlength of head,

and

nearly 4 times in the length of thepostorbital partof thehead.

The

lower

jaw

isaslong as the upper,butisreceived withinit.

The maxiUa

extends

somewhat

behindtheverticalthrough thei)osterior margin of theeye.

The

barbel is^^as long as the upper jaw,ornearlyso.

Both

jaws

and

the

head

ofthe

vomer

are

armed

with

teethin villiforin bands, as inotherspecies of the genus.

The

pectorals are as long asthepostorbitalpart of the head.

The

veutralsextend nearlyto thevent,

and

theirlengthiscontained 4 timesinthe distancefromthe tipof thesnouttotheendofthesecond dorsal.

The

distance of the analfrom thetipof the snout nearly equals the length of the anal base.

The

originofthe anteriordorsalis directlyover the axilofthe pecto- ral_; the dorsals are su1)continuous; none of the rays of the anterior

(2)

70 PROCEEDINGS

'of

UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

dorsal areproduced,

and

none of tliem arelongerthanthe longestrays of the seconddorsal.

The

longestanalrayis not

much more

thanhalf as longas the longest dorsalray,

and

equalshalfthelength ofthepec- torals.

The

length of theanterior dorsal baseis aboutequalto that of thesnout; thesecond dorsalbaseis about2J times as long as the ven- tral fill.

The

lengthofthe middlecaudal raj'Siscontained 8times inthe total

"length witliout caudal.

The

typicalspecimens are 13 inches, 13.1 inches,

and

14 inches long, respectively.

Eadial

formula.—

B.

VII;

D. 10, C0-G3; A.53-54 ; P. 15.

Thereare 21 or213 rows of scalesbetween theanteriordorsal

and

the lateral line,

and

about155 along thelateralline.

Color.

—

Brown, with

some

lightspots

on

the second dorsal

and

the sides; the anal fin

and

thetwo dorsalsmargined with darkerbrown.

2.Phycisragias(Walb.)Jor.

&

Gilb.

Col. Marshall

McDonald, among numerous

interestingformsof south- ernfishes, has recently secured G specimens of this species of Phycis, which were taken in a haul seine,

March

20, 1880, at the

mouth

of the

Cape

Fear Eiver,in

North

Carolina. Theseare

numbered

90in hiscol- lecting invoice. Phycisregiushasnotbeenrecorded sofarsouth before

;

specimens have been taken in

York

Eiver, a tributary of Chesapeake Bay.

The

discovery of

two

gadoidsas farsouth asthe

Cape

Fear

and

Charleston isquiteunexpected.

U. S. ITational

Museum,

Washington, April9, 1880.

l>ESCRIPTIO>f

OF A IVEW

.*iPECIES

OF SEBASTICIITH YS

(SEBAS-

TaCBITHlS

:TtI?VIATUS),

FROM iWONTEREY BAY,

CAI^IFOKIViA.

By OAVIO

S.

Ssbastichthys miniatus.sp. nov.

Allied to Sebastichthijspinniger Gill.

Body

oblong, theform

much

as in S.pinniger

and

/S'.atrovirens; the caudal pedunclerather stoutertbanin pinniger. Ileadmoderate, some-

what

pointed, theprofilenotverysteep.

Mouth

ratherlarge, the max-

illaryreaching toopposite the middle of the pupil, the premaxillaryin fronton thelevel oftheloweredge ofthepupil.

Lower jaw

projecting

somewhat beyond

the upper, with a rather conspicuous symphyseal knob, which islargerthan in pinniger. Middle of lower

jaw

elevated, sothat the mesian teeth are

much

raised,

and

fit intoan emarginatiou