188 PERCH. 



small but firmly-attached scales. Eyes large; nostrils, as in all 

 this family of fishes, double, and between the eyes and point 

 of the upper jaw. The first gill-cover (preoperculum) finely 

 serrated; the hindmost furnished with a flattened spine. Lateral 

 line passing along nearer the back. The first dorsal fin rounded 

 and well developed, with firm and prickly rays, of which the 

 fourth and fifth are commonly the longest; the second dorsal 

 near the first, and opposite the anal; the latter with two firm 

 rays at its commencement. Tail concave. The colours are lively, 

 but subject to variation. The back a rich brown, sometimes 

 greenish; cheeks and sides yellow, the belly white. A variable 

 number of broad bands of the colour of the back pass round 

 the sides. The first dorsal fin flesh-coloured at the base, bluish 

 near the margin; the first and last borders dark, almost black. 

 Pectoral fins pale; the ventrals, second dorsal, anal, and tail 

 red. Fin rays first dorsal fourteen, second dorsal fourteen, 

 pectoral twelve, ventral one to five, anal two to five, caudal 

 eighteen. 



