FAMILY, I— SCLERODERMI. 693 



MonacantJius cirrifer, Temm. and ScUegel, Fauna Japon. Poiss. p. 290, t. cssx, f. i ; Bleeker, Japan, 



MonacantJius varius, Ranzani, Nov. Comm. Ac. Sc. Inst. Bonom. 1842, v, p. 6, t. ii. 

 Monacanthus hroccus, Storer, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 1842, p. 84 (not Mitchell). 



Mo7iacanthusfihimentosus and gallintda, Val. in Webb and Bertlial. lies Canar. Poiss. p. 95, pi. svii, f. 1. 

 Monacanthus signifer, Storer, Mem. Am. Ac. ii, 1S4G, p. 497, and viii, p. 426, t. xxxv, f . 1. 

 Monacanthus atiriga, Lowe, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854, p. 253. 



Monacanthus Massachusetteasis, Storer, Fish. !Mass. p. 174, and Mem. Am. Ac. viii, p. 425, t. xxsiv, f. 4 ; 

 Dekay, 1. c. p. 336, t. Ivii, f. 187. 



Monacanthus honiuhi, Bleeker, 1. c. t. iii, f. 3, and Japan, p. 13, c. fig. 

 Monacanthus auratus, Castelnau, Poiss. Afr. Austr. p. 77. 



B. vi, D. 1/28-34, P. 12, A. 29-33, C. 9. 



Length of head 3^ to 3-|, of caudal fin 4^, height of body 2^ to 2f in the total length. Eyes — situated 

 in the posterior half of the head, 2 to 2i diameters from the end of snout. Body elevated. Fins — the first 

 dorsal situated above the posterior portion of the eye, and at the highest point of the dorsal profile : the spine 

 may be strong or weak, prolonged or not so. Second dorsal having its anterior ray occasionally with a 

 filamentous prolongation. Ventral spine small, movable, attached to the abdominal membrane. Caudal rounded. 

 Scales — present but small, the skin appears as if it were velvety. Colours — of a dull brown, with dark blotches 

 and streaks : caudal fin with two dark vertical bands. 



Uiihitat. — East coast of Africa, seas of India to China and Japan : also tropical and sub-tropical parts of 

 the Atlantic. 



2. Monacanthus choirocephalus, Plate CLXXIX, fig. 3. 



Bleeker, Balist. p. 19, pi. ii, f. 4 ; Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 242. 



Paramonacanthus choir ocephalus, Bleeker, Atl. Ich. v, p. 131, t. ccxxvii, f. 3. 



B. vi, D. 1/28, P. 13, A. 28-30, C. 12. 



Length of head 3j, of caudal fin 5, height of body 2-| in the total length. Eyes — situated in the 

 posterior half of the head over the gill-opening and below the dorsal spine : 2i diameters from the end of 

 snout and 1 apart. Body rather elevated, profile from snout to first dorsal fin almost straight. The origin 

 of the second dorsal fin is at nearly the highest point of the dorsal profile. Fins — dorsal spine situated over 

 the last 1/2 of the eye, rather weak, rough anteriorly, and with a row of small barbs on either side of its 

 posterior surface. Second dorsal and anal with the first few rays rather shorter than the succeeding ones. 

 Ventral spine movable, without any enlarged spines at its termination. Caudal rounded, sometimes with a 

 setiform prolongation of one of its upper rays. Scales — indistinctly visible, skin not very rough : numerous 

 small fleshy tentacles on the sides of the body. Colours — of a gray stone-colour, with irregular and rather 

 large black blotches : two dark bands across the caudal fin. 



This species is not rare at Madras. It differs from the form described by Bleeker in having numerous 

 fleshy appendages over the body. 



Habitat. — Madras to the Malay Archipelago. 



B. — Dorsal spine rough hut harbless. 



3. Monacanthus monoceros, Plate CLXXIX, fig. 2. 



Balistes monoceros, Osbeck's Voy. transl. by Forster, 1771, i, p. 173; Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 404; Bloch. 

 t. 147 ; Bonn. Ich. p. 17, t. x, f. 34 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1462, var. a. ; Bl. Schn. p. 462 ; Lacep. i, p. 386. 



Lija barhuda, Parra, p. 48, t. xxii, fig. 2. 



Balistes Kleinii, Gmel. Linn. p. 1472. 



Balistes monoceros, var. nnicolor, Bl. Schn. p. 463. 



Balistes serraticornis, Freminv. Nouv. Bull. Sc. Soc. Philom. No. 67, p. 249, t. iv, f. 1. 



Aleuteres Berardi, Less. Voy. Coq. Zool. p. 107, t. vii ; Richards. Voy. Sulphur, Ich. p. 132, pi. Ixi, f. 1, 

 and Ich. China, pp. 202, 318 ; Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1851, p. 149. 



Aluteria cinerea, Temm. and Schleg. Fauna Japon. Poiss. p. 292, t. cxxxi, f. 1. 



Alutera monoceros, Swainson, Fishes, ii, p. 327. 



Alutarius amphacanthoides and inacr acanthus, Bleeker, Balist. pp. 22, 23, t. ii, f. 5, and t. iii, f. 6. 



Alutarius obliteratus. Cantor, Catal. Malay. Fish. p. 353 (young). 



Balistes linguatula, Gronov. Syst. ed. Gray, p. 35. 



Aluterus anginosus, Hollard, Ann. Sc. Nat. 1865, iv, p. 11. 



Alutera Oiintheriana, Poey, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1863, p. 184. 



Aleuteres monoceros, Cuv. Regn. Anim. ; Bleeker, Atl. Ich. v, j). 140, t. ccxxvi, f. 2. 



Monacanthus monoceros, Giinther, Catal. viii, p. 251. 



B. vi, D. 1/46-48, P. 14, A. 48-53, C. 12. 



Length of head about 4, of caudal fin 8, height of body from 2| to 3^ in the total length. Eyes —reiiher 



