FAMILY, XV— ACANTHUEID^. 203 



7. Acanthurus mata. D. ^i^yy, A. tj^zt- Bro-mi, with black fins. Red Sea, seas of India to the Malay 

 Arcliipelago. 



8. Acanthurus Celebicus. D. -rlrfs. ^- A. L. 1. 80. Brown, fins dark. I^Iadras, Malay Archipelago. 



9. Acanthums melanurus. D. a-j'^-j-, A. ^. Scales radimentary or absent. Black band over occiput, 

 another across free portion of the tail. Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago. 



B. Broad teeth fixed in the jaws : 8 or 9 dorsal spines : ventrals not fully developed. 



10. Acanthurus hepatus. D. xa'-^ro- ^- 1/2. A., -/g-. Slatey gray, covered by a deep brown band in the 

 upper half of its back, leaving an oval blotch of gi-ound colour above the pectoral fin. Fins gray, spines and 

 i-ays orange, caudal yeUow. Seas of India to New Guinea. 



C. Setiform moveable teeth dilated at their extremities : 8 or 9 dorsal spines : 5 ventral rays. (Cteiwdon.) 



11. Acanthurus strigosus. D. -^I-^^, A. ^^r- Teeth setiform with dilated extremities. Body brown 

 lineated with bluish lines, red spots on the head. Red Sea, East coast of Africa, seas of India to the Malay 

 Archipelago and beyond. 



D. Broad teeth fixed in the jaws : 1 to 4 dorsal spines : 5 ventral rays. (Harpurus.) 



12. Acanthurus xanthurus. D. ^-^T' ^- ao-TT- Scales rudimentary, rough. Blackish, caudal yellow. 

 Red Sea, East coast of Africa and Ceylon. 



13. Acanthurus velifer. D. -rflfg-, A. ^-j'tt- Scales rudimentary. Dorsal and anal fins much elevated. 

 Brown, banded with narrow blue lines. Red Sea, East coast of Africa to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



A. Broad teeth fixed in the jaws : 8 or 9 dorsal spines : 5 ventral rays. (Bhomhotides.) 



1. Acanthurus lineatus. 



Chcetodon lineatus, Linn. Nat. Hist, i, p. 124(3. 



Acanthurus lineatus, Bl. Schn. p. 214, t. xlix ; Lacep. iv, pp. 547, 549 ; Cuv. and Val. x, p. 223 ; Bleeker, 

 Sumatra, ii, p. 263 ; Giinther, Catal. iii, p. 333 ; Kner, Novara Fische, p. 210. 

 Ctenodon lineatus, Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 256. 

 Acanthurus vittatus, Benn. Fish. Ceylon, p. 2, pi. ii. 

 Bhomhotides lineatus, Bleeker, Arou, 1873, p. 3. 



B. V, D. rffr, P- 15, V. 1/5, A. ^, C. 17. 



Length of head 5^ to 6|, of caudal 2/7, height of body 1/3 of the total length. Byes— diameter 2/9 of 

 length of head, 3 to 3| diameters from end of snout, and 1^ apart. Profile from dorsal fin to snout obtuse. 

 The maxilla reaches 1/3' of the distance to below the orbit. Teeth — six or seven lobate incisors on either side of 

 the upper jaw. Fins — dorsal spines rather weak and a little shorter than the rays, interspinous membrane 

 scarcely notched. Pectoral as long as or slightly longer than the head. Caudal lobed, the upper the longer. 

 Scales — about eight rows between the lateral-line and the base of the last dorsal spine. Lancet-shaped spine 

 vrith a posterior process. Least depth of the free portion of the tail equal to 1/2 the length of the head. 

 Colours — head and upper two-thirds of body canary yellow, traversed by nine or ten more or less oblique blue 

 bands going from tlie head to the back and caudal fin : lower third of body reddish-gray. Two or three blue 

 bands pass down the summit of the head and the anterior edge of the eye towards the snout, whilst about 

 seven more pass across the cheeks to the bands on the body. Other blue bands pass upwards and backwards 

 from the hind edge of the eye to the bands on the body. Dorsal and anal fins dark with a gray margin. 

 Pectoral having its upper ray blue, and just internal to it a white line ascending 1/2 way up the ray : an arched 

 white band on lower half of pectoral fin on its inferior side. Ventral vrith its outer ray blue, its inner ones red. 

 Caudal with a semilunar blue band in its centre and a blue posterior edge. Bennett observes of Ceylon examples 

 that amono-st six or seven specimens no two were alike in the arrangement of the blue and yeUow streaks near 

 the caudal fin. 



Habitat. — Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago : common at the Andamans in December and January 

 up to 10 inches in length. Bennett says : '^ the Seiveyah (Acanthurus lineatus) is &n extvemely scarce fish on 

 the southern coast of Ceylon : inhabits rocky situations, and is not in request but for the gratification of the 

 naturalist. It seldom exceeds 16 or 17 inches in length." (p. 2.) 



2. Acanthurus leucosternon. 



Benn. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 183; Bleeker, Batoe, iii, p. 237 ; Ganther, Catal. iii, p. 340. 



Acanthurus Delisianus, Cuv. and Val. x, p. 193 ; Guer. Icon. Poiss. pi. xxxv, fig. 2 ; Griffith, in Cuv. 

 Anim. Kingdom, Fishes, pi. xxxiii, fig. 2. 



B. v, D. ^^30, P- 16, V. 1/5, A. ^?^, C. 17. 



Length of head 4f, of caudal 51, height of body about 2/5 of the total length. Eyes— diameter 2/7 of 

 length of head, 2f diameters from end of snout, and li apart. Profile from the upper edge of the eye to 

 the snout rather concave. Teeth — five truncated and lobate ones on either side of the upper jaw, and six in the 

 lower. Fins— \ast dorsal spine as high as the rays, and equal to about 4/13 of the height of the body, the 

 iwsterior extremity of the soft dorsal and anal fins rather angular. Pectoral as long as the head. Anal as 



2 D 2 



