154 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



dorsal and anal -with Llaek spots in irregular linos : four or five sinuous vertical bands on the paudal : pectoral 

 and ventral ^\-ith black transverse bands and lines as wide or wider than the grcjund-colour. 



Habitat. — Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. I have this species from the Andamans. 



4.' Pterois volitans, Plate XXXVII, fig. 1. 



Gaderostetis valitans, Linn. Syst. Nat. XII, i, p. 4'.Jl. 



Scorjymia volitans, Block, i.iSi; Gmel. Linn. p. 1217; Bl. Schn. p. 193; Laci'p. iii, p. 280; Gronov. 

 ed. Gray, p. 119 ; Bennett, Fish. Ceylon, p. 1, pi. 1. 



Scoqiama make, Lacep. iii, p. 278. 



Pterois volitans, Cuv. and Val. iv, p. 352, pi. 88 ; Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 2(31 ; Bleeker. Sclerop. p. 8 ; 

 Ruppell, N. W. Fische, p. 107 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 122 ; Day, Fishes of Malabar, p. 38 ; Klunz. Verb. z. b. 

 Ges. Wien, 1870, p. 80G. 



Pseudomonopterus volitans, Bleeker, Fish. Madagas. p. 87. 



Pterois tl nageoires lie de vin, Lienard, Nat. Hist. Soc. Mauritius, 1839, p. 33. 



Purrooah, Mai. : Cheeb-ta-ta-dah, Andam. 



B. vii, D. 12 1 t-„'tt> P- 14, V. 1/5, A. flf, C. 14, L. r. 90, L. tr. 13/, Ca3c. pyl. 3, Vert. lO/U. 



Length of head 3/11 to 3/13, of caudal 3/11 to 4/13, height of body 4/13 to 1/3 of the total length. Eyes 

 — diameter 1/4 to 2/9 of length of head, 1\ to IJ diameters from end of snout, and I apart. Interorbital space 

 deeply concave, it and the nape scaleless, or with some very rudimentary scales : it is traversed by two low 

 ridges which do not terminate posteriorly in spines. The maxilla reaches to below the front edge or first third 

 of the orbit. Preopercle with two or three spines along its vertical border, and three more along its lower limb : 

 turbinal spines present : some blunt ones along the upper edge of the orbit : occipital ridge with two Islade-like 

 spines: two moi'e, but less developed, on the temporal ridge: lower margin of preorlsital with tliree blunt spines 

 and a raised line, sometimes almost spinato, running across the cheeks from that bone to the upper preopercular 

 spine. Opercular spine but slightly developed. A long tentacle from the ujiper edge of tlie orbit and about half 

 the length of the head : also fleshy tentacles along the lower edge of the preorljital, the hind one of which is most 

 developed. Teeth — villiform in jaws and vomer. Fins — the first ten dorsal spines are high, and equal to the 

 height, or one half more, of the body, the interspinous membrane deeply emarginate : soft portion of fin not so 

 high as the spinous : pectoral reaching to or beyond the root of the caudal, the membrane between the upper 

 four rays deeply cleft : ventrals reach the anal rays : third anal spine the longest, being throe-fourths as high as 

 the first dorsal spine : caudal rather rounded or wedge-shaped. Colours — reddish, with vertical brown bands 

 having narrower and lighter intermediate ones : three or four broad ones radiate from the eye : one passes over 

 the nape, and seven or eight more are present on the body, the third and fourth usually coalescing under the 

 middle of the pectoral fin. A black mark in the axilla, having a pure white spot in its centre. Dorsal spines 

 annulated with black : soft dorsal, caudal, and anal spotted: pectoral greyisii with light-coloured spots : ventral 

 slate-coloured wdth wliite spots. 



llalitat. — Red Sea, East coast of Africa, through the seas of India to Australia. 



5. Pterois cincta, Plate XXXVII, fig. 3. 



.*" Pterois radiata, (Park.) Cuv. and Val. iv, p. 3G9; Garrett, Fische d. Sudsee, t. Ivi, fig. A. 



Pterois cinda, lliipp. N. W. Fische, p. 108, t. 26, f. 3; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 125 ; Klunz. Verb. z. b. Ges. 

 Wien, 1870, p. 80(3. 



B. vii, D. 11 I 1-T'rz, P- It^. V. 1/5, A. f, C. 15, L. 1. 25, L. r. 45, L. tr. 7/25. 



Length of head 3/11, of caudal 1/4 to 3/14, of pectoral 2/3, height of body 3/11 of the total length. Eyes— 

 diameter 2/7 of length of head, 1 diameter from end of snout, and 2/3 of a diameter apart. Interorbital space 

 very concave. The? maxilla reaches to below the hind edge of the orbit. Tentacle above the orbit long, and 

 reaching as far as the end of the snout. JMargin of orbit serrated : occipital and temporal ridges spinate : other 

 bones about the head comparatively feebly ai-med. Several fleshy tentacles on the head : long ones on the 

 snout. Teeth — villiform in jaws and vomer. Fins — eighth to ninth dorsal spines the highest, equalling half the 

 height of the body : pectoral reaches as far as the end of the caudal. Scales — on nape. Colours — snout 

 uncoloured : a deep brown band edged with white extends from the eye to the angle of the interopercle : the 

 second encircles the neck, and there are six more on the body, which looks as if it were traversed vertically by 

 narrow milk-white bands. A dark band at the base of the pectoral, which is also stained in its outer half; a 

 blackish mark in the axilla without any white spot. Ventral greyish, its spine white : caudal spotted. 



The name P. radiata attached to a figure of this species in Garrett's Fische d. Sudsee, 1. c. would appear* 

 to show that Dr. Giinther considers the figure of a Pterois, made at Otaheiti liy Parkinson, to be identical with 

 the above. See Cuv. and Val. iv, p. 3(59. 



Habitat. — Red Sea, Andamans to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



Genus, 6 — Apistds, Ctiv. 

 Pteriehthys, Swainson ; Polemius, Kaup. 



BrancMostegals six. Head and body rather compressed. No groove across occiput. Strong and sharp 

 * Parts i-iii li.ive been published in thi'; country. incluJing Ix plates, but only ',)C imgea of letterpress. 



