690 PLECTOGNATHI. 



of the tail. Colours — a light ring round the muzzle joining one from below, and dividing the black lip from a 

 black band on the forehead : body brownish olive, each scale darkest in the centre : a wide blackish band from 

 the eye to the base of the pectoral fin : vertical fins yellowish with dark margins, having sinuous lines on 

 them : large blue blotches on the first dorsal fin, sometimes the base of the caudal is dark. 

 Habitat. — Red Sea, East coast of Africa, Andamans to the Malay Archipelago. 



8. Balistes fuscus, Plate CLXXVIII, fig. 4. 



Baliste grande-tache, Lacep. i, p. 3~8. 



Balistes fuscus, Bl. Schn. p. 471 ; Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 222 ; Klunz. Fisch. Roth. Meer. 1871, p. 623. 



Balistes signatus, Shaw, Zool. v. pt. 2, p. 416. 



Balistes rivulatns, Riipp. N. W. Fische, p. 5G, t. xvi, f. 2 : Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 222. 



Balistes cwrulescens, Riipp. Atl. p. 32, t. vii, f. 2 (young). 



Balistes retieiilatws, Hollard, An. Sc. Nat. i, 1854, p. 312. 



Balistes chrysospilus, Bleeker, Solor, p. 94, and Atl. Ich. v, p. Ill, t. ccxxv, f. 3. 



B. vi, D. 3/25-26, P. 14, A. 23-26, G. 12, L. 1. 45-55, L. tr. 27-31. 



Length of head Sj, of caudal fin 7, height of body 2j in the total length. Etjes — 21 diameters from 

 the end of snout and 1 apart. Cheeks with naked grooves. Teeth — compressed and notched. Fins — dorsal 

 commences above base of pectoral fin, its spine strong and 2/3 of the length of the head. Ventral spine 

 movable. Caudal rounded in the young, truncate in the immature, deeply emarginate in the adult with the 

 outer rays often prolonged. Second dorsal and anal fins well developed. Scales — those on the cheeks in the 

 form of osseous tubercles, placed in rows at a short distance apart : some osseous scutes behind the 

 gill-opening : no spines on the side of the tail. Colours — dull yeUow, with vertical brown stripes and spots, 

 which sometimes enclose spaces. Three dark narrow interoi-bital bands. Vertical fins spotted T^ath dark in 

 the young, with yellow in the adult. Old examples brown, with the vertical fins light edged. 



Habitat. — Red Sea, East coast of Africa, seas of India to the Malay Archipelago. The example figured 

 (life-size) was from Ceylon. It attains ujjwards of a foot and a half in length. 



9. Balistes flavimarginatus,* Plate CLXXVIII, fig. 1. 



Riipp. Atl. Fische, p. 33, N. W. Fische, p. 54, t. xv, f. 1-2 ; Bleeker, Mol. p. 303, and Atl. Ich. v, p. 113, 

 t. ccxviii, f. 3, and t. ccxxiv, f. 3 ; Peters, Fisch. Mossam. p. 276; Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 223; Klunz. Fish. 

 Roth. Meer. 1871, p. 626. 



Melichthys marginatus, Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 325. 



Balistes Beeri, Bleeker, Celebes, p. 53. 



B. vi, D. 3/26-27, P. 15, A. 23-24, C. 14, L. 1. 30-35, L. tr. 19-21. 



Length of head 3|, of caudal fin 6|, height of body 2^ in the total length. Eyes — 3| diameters from 

 end of snout and 1^ apart. A groove in front of the eye. Teeth — compressed and notched. Fins — first 

 dorsal commences above the gill-opening, its anterior spine stout. Ventral spine movable. Caudal rounded 

 in the very young, truncated in the immature, deeply concave and having the lobes produced in adults. 

 Second dorsal and anal well developed. Scales — anterior part of snout partly covered with tubercular 

 rudimentary scales, in the adult the cheeks are not entirely scaled : a few scutes behind the gill-opening. 

 Four to six rows of rather small recurved spines of the side of the tail. Colours — superiorly of a bluish stone, 

 becoming lighter on the sides and below, where it becomes of a buif colour. The lower surface of mouth and 

 chest orange, fading into yellow : immature with dark spots in the centre of some of the scales : vertical fins 

 with a dark base and a light outer half along the centre of which is a dark band. Adults become of a 

 nearly uniform colour. 



Habitat. — Red Sea, Andamans to the iMalay Archipelago. The largest example personally captured was 

 20 inches in length. Balistes Brasiliensis, Bl. Schn. p. 470, is considered by Dr. Peters to be this species. 



10. Balistes aculeatus, Plate CLXXVIII, fig. 3. 



Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 406 ; Bloch. t. 149 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1466 ; Bonn. Ich. p. 18, t. xi, f. 35 ; Bl. Schn. 

 p. 465 ; Cuv. Reg. Anim. ; Lacep. i, p. 367, t. xvii, f , 1 ; Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 324 ; Bennett, Beechey's Voy. 

 Blossom, Zool. p. 69, pi. xxii, f. 2 ; Jenyns, Voy. Beagle, Fish. p. 155 ; Bleeker, Balist. p. 15, and Atl. Ich. v, 

 p. 120, t. ccxvi, f. 3; Rich. Voy. Samarang, Fish. p. 24 ; Peters, Fisch. Mossam, p. 276; Hollard, Ann. Sc. 

 Nat. i, 1854, p. 333 ; Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 223. 



Balistes verrucosus, Bonn. Ich. p. 18. 



* Amongst Sir Walter Elliott's drawings of fish from Madras, is a beautiful and as I believe nnnamed Balistes : it is thus 

 referred to by Jerdon (Madr. .Jouiii. Lit. and Science, 1851, p. 149), "Balistes — ? Varri km-aica, Tamil. Greenish, with red 

 Idniiiiudinal stripes : caudal red and yellow." The figure is 8J inches in length. A groove in front of snout. Fins — second dorsal 

 ami anal rather high anteriorly : Ciuulal deeply Innattd. Scaler — cover cheeks. Coiowrs— olive dashed with green along the back and 

 sides, becoming light on the abdominal surface : four purplish bands along tlie cheek: numerous nan'ow purple bands e.vtend obliquely 

 along the whole leu;; lb of the body, the superior ones enilirig along the dorsal profile, the inferior being broken up. Vertical fins 

 bluish, with a dark baud along the Use of each ; caudal light gr.iy, with carmine outer edges and posteriorly carmine edged with yellow. 



