NATUKAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 105 



Synopsis. 

 Spinous portion of dorsal longest, but with only 9 or 10 rays. 



Vertebra about JJ CIRRHITIN.U. 



a.. Head abbreviated, with the jaws not produced. 



Head decurved from the nape ; operculum unarmed. 

 Origin of dorsal nearly over preopercular margin. 



Canine teeth obsolescent Amblycirrhitus. 



Origin of dorsal generally above carpus; canine 



teeth in both jaws Cirrhitus. 



Head very obliquely incurved to the pointed snout. Oper- 

 culum with two small spines Cirrhitichthys. 



Preorbital not higher than the eye's diameter Cirrhitichthys. 



Preorbital considerably higher than an eye's di- 

 ameter Cirrhitopsis. 



0. Head oblong and incurved to the snout; intermaxillary 



produced, and with the posterior processes tootbed..Oxycirrhites. 



AMBLYCIRRHITUS Gill. 



Synonymy. 

 Cirrhites sp. Cuv. el Vol. 



Rostrum convexum. Dentes canini obsolescentes. Pinna dorsalis fei e supra 

 preoperculi marginim incipie?is. 



Body oblong-cuneiform, highest before the ventral fins, before which it is 

 rapidly curved upwards. Scales large. Head short and elevated, higher than 

 long. Occipito-nasal outline very oblique and nearly straight ; snout slightly 

 convex. Nape gibbous. Preoperculum finely serrated behind. Mouth little 

 oblique and of moderate size, chiefly under tbe eyes. Teeth pluriserial, with 

 the canine obsolete or rudimentary. Branchiostegal rajs 6, 6. Dorsal fin 

 commencing at the nape above the preoperculum ; its spinous portion is convex, 

 much lower behind than the articulated, and the membrane is very profoundly 

 notched and produced into a slender lobe behind each spine. Anal fin with 

 three spines, the second of which is largest, and with six branched rays. Cau- 

 dal fin entire, with its angles acute. Pectoral fins with its undivided rays 

 slightly produced. 



Type. Amblj cirrhitus fasciatus Gill. 



The Cirrhitus fasciatus of the " Histoire Naturelle des Poissons" differs from 

 the typical Cirrhiti by the form of the body, the region of greatest height being 

 before the ventral fins and not above it, as in the latter; by the resultant more 

 anterior commencement of the dorsal fin, and the deeply-notched and lobigerous 

 membrane behind the spines of that fin, and by the absence of larger canine 

 teeth. 



Only one species of the genus is known. 



Amblycirrhitus fasciatus, Gill. 



Cirrhites fasciatus Cuv. et Vol., Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, torn, iii., 

 p. 76, pi. 47. 

 Habitat. East Indian seas, (Pondicherry.) 



CIRRHITUS (Commerson) Lac. 



Synonymy. 

 Cirrhitus (Comm.) Lactp&de, Histoire Naturelle des Poisons, torn, v., p. 2, 1803. 

 Rostrum convexum. Dentes canini anticiin maxilla superiore 2. Pinna dorsalis 

 supra pinnae pectoralis basin incipiens. 



Body oblong-oval, highest before or above the ventral fins, covered with 

 1862.] 



