Scale
DescriptionFigures 27.1-27.17
Hexagrammos stelleri (Whitespotted
Greenling)
(Other common names: Greenling, Kits, Kits Chai, Kiijii)
Length: 48 cm.
Mouth: small, terminal, directed upwards; upper jaw does not reach anterior margin of eye orbit; snout curves downwards to upper jaw; thickened lips with small teeth that are in rows along the jaws and in patches inside the tip of the jaws.
Body: one notched dorsal fin; one anal fin; five lateral lines but the first and fourth are short; large cirrus above eye; caudal peduncle slender.
Colour: light brown to greenish with blotched white spots; anal fin yellow; dark rows or bars of spots on all fins (except pelvics); dark stripes on dorsal surface.
Depth: shallow up to 175 m.
Habitat: coastal waters in rocky habitat; also pilings and eelgrass.
Season: spawn in spring.
Diet: worms, crustaceans, smaller forage fish.
Predators: not determined.
Distribution: northern California to Aleutian Islands to Bering Sea, to Hokkaido (less common in southern waters).
Scale
DescriptionScale Type: ctenoid on body and behind the head, cycloid on cheeks, opercle, behind the eye and along the mid-line (Hart, 1973).
Relative Scale Size: small (especially in comparison to other greenlings).
Position of the Scales on Body: on cheeks, opercule, behind eye, and midline; also along the lateral lines (Hart, 1973).
Overall Shape: they are rectangular, elongated in the anterior/posterior axis.
Focus and Circuli: the focus abuts the edge of the posterior field, along the edge of ctenii growth. Regeneration appears to be common. The circuli are not continuous between fields. The region of radii formation in the anterior field causes definite disruption of the circuli pattern. Within the anterior field/radii region itself, circuli are difficult to distinguish. Circuli in the lateral fields is well defined. The ridges are quite pronounced and thick.
Radii: numbers are variable and not diagnostic. Present only in the anterior field. The outer edge of the anterior field is slightly scalloped.
