BY J. DOUGLAS OGILBY. 



16^ 



dorsal and anal with a median dusky band, the caudal spotted 

 with brown. 



Etymology : — {jfj-i, half; ypanixi] line. 



Total length to 115 millimeters. 



Type in the author's possession. 



Distribution — Coastal streams south of Perth, West 

 Australia. 



Epinephelides, gen.nov. 



Body oblong, compressed. Scales small, adherent, ctenoid, 

 roughened along the outer border, the exposed surface coarsely 

 striated except a small oval basal patch. Lateral line continuous, 

 the tubes bifurcate on the curved portion, simple on the straight, 

 extending to the posterior border of the scale. Head large, scaly, 

 excejDt the snout, maxillary, and mandible. Mouth with wide, 

 oblique cleft; lower jaw prominent. Premaxillaries protractile; 

 maxillary' exposed, ridged anteriorl}^, without supplemental bone. 

 Jaws with a band of villiform teeth, the inner of which are 

 depressible and hinged; a pair of large curved canines in front of 

 each jaw, and a second pair on each side of the lower jaw; villi- 

 form teeth on the vomer and palatines; pterygoids and tongue 

 smooth. Nostrils approximate, the anterior small and round, the 

 posterior a subvertical, oval slit. Eyes large, lateral, high. 

 Preopercle serrated behind, the lower limb with large antrorse 

 spines; opercle with three spines; subopercle serrated. Gill-open- 

 ings wide; gill-membranes separate, free from the isthmus; seven 

 branchiostegals ; pseudobranchise present; gill-rakers moderate, 

 cultriform, in small numbers. All the fins with scaly bases; 

 dorsal fin with x 20 rays, the soft portion somewhat longer than 

 the spinous; anal short, with ii 8 rays; ventrals inserted below 

 the base of the pectorals, close together, with a strong spine and 

 five soft rays; pectoral large, obtusely pointed, with 15 rays, the 

 middle the longest, none of them dilated ; caudal emarginate. 

 Posterior processes of the premaxillaries extending to the frontal; 

 cranium smooth and convex behind the orbits; suiDraoccipital and 

 parietal bones very short, with strong crests. 



Etymology : — Epinej^helus, an allied genus; e'tSoj, resembling. 



