The more primitive _Pareioplitæ_ (παρεία, cheek; ὁπλιτής, armed) closely resemble the _Percomorphi_, having the same fins, the same type of shoulder-girdle, and the same insertion of the ventral fins. In the more specialized forms the ventral fins remain thoracic, but almost all other parts of the anatomy are greatly distorted. In all cases, so far as known to the writer, the hypercoracoid is perforate as in the _Percomorphi_. There are numerous points of resemblance between the _Cirrhitidæ_ and the _Scorpænidæ_, and it is probable that the _Scorpænidæ_ with all the other _Pareioplitæ_ sprang from some perciform stock allied to _Cirrhitidæ_ and _Latrididæ_. Fossil mailed-cheek fishes are extremely few and throw little light on the origin of the group. Those belong chiefly to the _Cottidæ_. _Lepidocottus_, recorded from the Miocene and Oligocene, seems to be the earliest genus. [Illustration: FIG. 365.—Rosefish, _Sebastes marinus_ Linnæus. Cape Cod. ] [Illustration: FIG. 366.—Skull of _Scorpænichthys marmoratus_ Girard, showing the suborbital stay (_a_). ] =The Scorpion-fishes: Scorpænidæ.=—The vast family of _Scorpænidæ_, or scorpion-fishes, comprises such a variety of forms as almost to defy diagnosis. The more primitive types are percoid in almost all respects, save in the presence of the subocular stay. Their scales are ctenoid and well developed. The dorsal spines are numerous and strong. The ventral fins are complete and normally attached; the anal has three strong spines. The cranium shows only a trace of spiny ridges, and the five spines on the preoperculum are not very different from those seen in some species of bass. The gill-arches are, however, different, there being but 3½ gills and no slit behind the last. Otherwise the mouth and pharanx show no unusual characters. In the extremes of the group, however, great changes take place, the head becomes greatly distorted with ridges and grooves, the anal spines are lost, and the dorsal spines variously modified. The scales may be lost or replaced by warts or prickles and the ventral fins may be greatly reduced. Still the changes are very gradual, and it is not easy to divide the group into smaller families. The most primitive existing genus is doubtless _Sebastes_. The familiar rosefish, _Sebastes marinus_, is found on both shores of the north Atlantic. It is bright red in color and is valued as food. As befits a northern fish, it has an increased number of vertebræ (31) and the dorsal spines number 15. From its large haddock-like eye it has been called the Norway haddock. It is an important food-fish in New England as well as in northern Europe. [Illustration: FIG. 367.—_Sebastolobus altivelis_ Gilbert. Alaska. ]