Description of a new scorpaenoid fish (<I>Sebastichthys proriger</I>), from Monterey Bay, California

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PEOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 327

This species

was

described soon after

by

Dr.

Ay

res inthe Proceedings of theCalifornia

Academy

of Sciences, 1854, p. 19, as Gilagranciis. It is apparentlyidenticalwith theprior Ptychochilus oregonensis ofKichard- son. This species is

now

no longer called "

Salmon

Trout," itsmarket

name

being " Pike."

The

small-scaled Ptychochilus {fvorax of Girard)

was

not then noticed

by

^Dr. ^Ayres.

5. CatostomusOccident/dinAyres(1.c.).

Soon after reconsidered

by

Dr. Ayres,in the Proceedingsof theCali- fornia

Academy,

under the

same

name,

and

also stilllater

by

Professor Agassiz (Am. Journal Sci. Arts, 1855), ^stillas Catostomusoccidentalis.

San Francisco,

Cal.,

March

20, 1880.

NOTE

OIV

"SEMA" AND "WACEIVTBUS."

By DAVID S. JORDAN.

In theBulletin of Hayden's United States Geological

and

Geograph-

ical Survey, vol.iv. No._2, 1878, I published "Notes on a collection of fishes from the Rio

Grande

at Brownsville, Tex." In this paper are characterized

two new

species, "

Sema

signifer'^ (p. 399),

and

^''Dacentrus

liicens^' (p. G07).

Thesespecies

must

besupi^ressed.

The

formerisafoetalEmbiotocoid, apparently Cymatogasteraggregatus, the other is the

young

of Hystero- carpus'trasJdi.

The

latterdiscovery

was made

before the paper

was

printed, but

by

inadvertenceit

was

sentto the press during

my

absence inthefield.

Of

conrse neitherof these species really

came

from the Eio

Grande

atBrownsville, Tex.,

and

their presence in a jarotherwise containing onlyTexasfresh-waterfishesisthe only excuse for the gross blunders asto theirrelationships.

San Francisco,

Cal., 3farch20,1880.

DESCRIPTION OF A

IVEIV

SCORP.ENOIO FISH {SEBASTICHTHITS PRORHOEK),

FRO:?I

MONTEREY BAY% CAEIFORNIA.

By DAVID S. JORDAN asad CIIARE,ES Ho GIL,BERT.

Allied to H. ovalis and S.elongatus.havingthe mouth,spines,

and

fins of the former and the color

and

general appearanceof thelatter.

Body

elongate, a little deeper than in 8. elongatus and

somewhat more

compressed, tapering slowly

backward

intoa slender caudal pe- duncle,which israther shorter and stouterthanin 8. elongatus.

Head

rathershort

and

small, theprofile

somewhat

steeperthanin 8.

elongatus.

Mouth

small,

much

as in 8.oralis, the short, narrowmaxil- lary

extendmg

tobelow the middleof the eye, the premaxillaryon the

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328 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

level of the lower marginof thepupil.

Lower jaw

stronglyprojecting, with a conspicuous symphyseal knob. ^•

Eye

very large, longer than snout. Preorbitalwithitsneck extremely narrow,

armed

witha slight spine.

Spinous ridges ontop of

head

verylow

and

weak, aboutas in 8. ova- Us, rather lower

and

narrower than in 8. atrovirens

and

^6'. pinniger.

The

following ^pairs of spines are present: Nasal,preocular, supraocu-

lar, tympanic,

and

occipital, five pairs in all, as in 8. elongatus.

The

ridges aremostof

them

partlycovered

by

scales. Preocular spinelittle

prominent. Supraocularridgeverylittledeveloped,itslengthtwo-fifths that of the eye ⁽ⁱⁿ ^8. elongafus two-thirds).

Tympanic

spine minute.

Occipitalridge notconsi)icROUs,the spine depressed.

Preopercular spines sharp, rather shorter than in 8. clongatics, but similar, the secondlongest,the points of alldirected

backward

rather than radiating. Opercular sj^ines moderate; bluutish points on sub- opercle

and

interopercle.

Two

bluutish suprascapular spines.

Interorbitalspace broad, nearly as broadas the eye,

somewhat

regu- larly convex, the middle ^being ^elevated. In8. elongafus, as in mostof the red species, the interorbital space istransversely^ concave.

Gill-rakersvery long, slender,

and

numerous, about 10_-f-30,thelong- est longer than the sui^raocular ridge,

and

abouthalf thediameterof theeye.

Scales rather small, as in 8. ovaJis, in about Go transverse series, the accessory scales ratherfew.

Dorsalfinverylow,as in 8. oralis, notdeeply emargiuate, the shortest (twelfth) spine two-thirds the height of the fifth, which is little

more

thanone-third the length of the head. Soft dorsal low, nearly twice as high.aslong, the highest rayaboutequal to the longestspine. Caudal

fin moderatelyforked.

Anal

fin verylow, itslengthabout equalto the height ofitslongest ray. Second spine

much

longer

and

strongerthan thethird, scarcely shorterthanthe longestray.

Pectoralsshortish

and

rather narrow, thebase ratherwider than the eye, the tipsreaching

beyond

the tips of the ventrals to the vent.

D. XIII, 13; A. Ill, 7.

Coloration very similar to that of 8. elongafus, red, with olive mark- ings. Thereis, however,

more

blackish

and

lessgreenish.

Ground

colorbrightlight red.

Body

mottled above with

dusky

olive- green, the ground colorformingdistinctblotches underthethirddorsal spine

and

under thefirst

and

lastrays of the softdorsal. Lateralline runningin themiddle of a ^verydisfincf confinuous redstripe, precisely as in 8. elongafus.

Head

above with purplishcross-shades. Operclewith a

dusky

blotch;

two

oliveshades radiating from theeye. Lipsand tip of lower

jaw

blackish (red in elongafus).

Eyes

red. Caudalfin bright red, speckled with dark olive. Spinous dorsal bright red,the posterior part of each

membrane

blackish; softdorsal olive

and

red; lower fins brightlight red, withshades of olive-yellow.

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PEOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 329

This species is

known

to us from abouteight examplesobtained in the

San

Francisco market.

They came

from IMonterey Bay,in a box containing SehasUchthysrosacena, comtellatus, eJongatiis,

and

chlorostictus, species all similar in size

and

redness of color. Later about _{sixty ex-} amples were obtained, all from deep water about Monterey

and

the Farallones.

The

relationsofSehasticJitln/s proriger

seem

to be most intimatewith

;8'. ovalis (Ayres), from which it differs in the

more

elongate form, the red color,

and

the absen(;eof the postocular spine. It resemblessuper- ficially>S^. elongatusmost,and its positionis evidentlybetweenor«?is

and

elongatus. Its relations with IS. pinniger are also not remote.

To

the green ;S^. ovalis, S.proriger bears the

same

relationthatthe red *S'.pinni- gerdoes to the green *S'. atrovirens.

In the followingtablecomparative measurementsof 8.pinniger, ora-

lis,

and

elongatus aregivenfor x)urposes of comparisonwith proriger

:

Tableof comparative measurements.

Totallength, ininches Lengthtobaseofcaudal(=:100).

Body:

Greatestdepth Least depthoftail

Head:

Greatest length

Snout -

Orbit

lutcriirliitalspace Prcorliital,leastwidth Maxilhuy

Mandible Longestgill-raker Occipitalridge Supraocularridge Dorsal

:

Distancefrom snont Longest spine Longestsoftray Lengthofbase Anal:

Lengthofbase Secondspine Thirdspine Longestsoftray Caudal:

Middle rays Outerrays Pectoral

:

Lenscth Widthofbase Ventral,length

Scales,numberoftransverserows.

7.6

.32 .09 .38 .085 .08 .08 .01 .123 .05 .055 .032 .327 .11 .12

.14 .11 .09 .12 .12 .17

9.45 12.6.

10. 7.

.30 .09 .34 .087 .095 .08 .013 .14 .18 .045 .06 .04

.12 .128 .59 .13 .14 .118 .15 .13 .175 .28 .09 .19 65

.285 .09

.087 .105 .057 .028 .17 .043 .07 .07

.3o3

.135 .127

.12 .155 .106 .135 .128 .175 .28 .09 .19 45

8.33 7.17

.38 .129 .368 .10 .10 .07 ,016 ,17

.055 .07 .04

.10 .168

.16 .13 .145 .195

.30 .098 .295 43

MoNTEKEY,

Cal.,

March

25, 1880.