780 FISHES OF INDIA. 



The figure of Serranus cilticelis in Cuv. and Val. ii, pi. xxxv, shows the spines of the 

 dorsal fin increasing in length to the last "which is delineated nearly twice as long as the 

 second. Cantor, "Malayan Fishes," found these spines from the third to be of nearly 

 equal length. Blceker shows them slightly, but gradually increasing to the last, which is 

 figured one-fifth longer than the third. I have observed them more corresponding with 

 Cantor's description, bat all have been small specimens. Still the foregoing show that 

 differences do exist in the length of these spines, that augmenting from the third to the 

 last is not universally carried out in the same way. In aliivelis the length of the third 

 dorsal spine is about -i of that of the head, in the larger gibhosus 15 inches long it is 2^, 

 and in the still larger striolatus i. 



Page 12. Serranus areolatds. Add to synonymy. 



? ,, ,, wandersi, Bleeker, Atl. Ich. vii, p. 47, Perc. t. iii, f. I. 



,, ,, geoffroyi, Klunz. Fische Rothen Meere, p. 3. 



,, ,, niultipunctatus, Koss. u. Raub. p. 6. 



Klunzinger considers Perca areolata, Forsk., to be identical with Serraims angularis, C. V. 



Page 13. Serranus undulosus. 



Steindachner considers that among the synonyms of this fish may be included Serranvs 

 acutirostris, C. and Val., S. fiiscus, Lowe, S. tinea, Cantraine and S. macrogenis, Savi. 



Page 16. Serranus tumilabeis. Omit from synonyms. 



„ ,, suminana Cuv. and Val. : Riippel : and Lefeb. 



„ ,, tumilabris, Cuv. and Val. : Giinther Catalog. 



Add Antliias argus, Bloch, t. cccvii. 



Page 17. Serranus DiACANTHDS. Add synonym. 



Epinephelus retouti, Bleeker, Fish. Madagascar, p. 21, pi. xii, f. 1. 



Page 19. For Serranus malabaricus read S. pantheeinus. Add synonym. 

 .'' Holocentrus malabaricus, Bl. Schn. 



Page 21. Serranus morrhua. Add to synonymy. 



Serrajius prceopercidaris, Boulenger, P. Z. S. 1887, p. 654. 



As I have remarked, and likewise figured, the young of this species has broad white bands, 

 whereas, as it becomes older, it is bro^vn with narrow black lines, which were the original 

 borders of the white bands. In the Paris Museum is a young specimen in whicli there are 

 dark spots along these lines, while among these percoid fishes longitudinal dark bands or 

 lines have a tendency to become spots, and finally disappear, as horizontal bands have to fade 

 away. In Klunzinger's figiire, F.R.M. t. i, f . 2, three brown bands radiate from the eye and 

 become four curved ones on the body, the first going to the eighth dorsal spine, the second 

 to the fifth ray, while between them are blotches, spots or" markings of the same colour. 

 The fifth dorsal spine is shown the longest, and as equalling a little more than 1-|- the length 

 of the orbit. Among Sir W. Elliot's drawings is one of this fish I'l inches long, it has a 

 strong spine at the angle of the preopercle and another on the subopercle. 



Serranus prceopercularis is represented by two specimens from the Persian Gulf, one 

 12 inches, the other 24 inches in length. The number of spines, rays and scales, as well as 

 the form are similar to the type, but instead of black lines there are black dots along the 

 sides rather Lrregularly disposed, and least numerous in the larger specimen. If, how- 

 ever, the smaller one be examined, the radiating lines from the eye, although indistinct, 

 are still perceptible, giving a certain clue to what the markings had been in the young, or 

 those of the young of the S. morrhua. 



Page 22. Seeeanus angularis. Add synonym. 



Ferca areolata Forsk. p. 42, is identified as this species by Klunzinger. 



Page 23. For Seeeanus geammicus read S. latifasciatus. Add to synonymy. 



Serranus latifasciatus, Schlegel, Fauna Jaj^on. Pisces, p. 6 ; Day, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1888, 

 page 259. 



Having been shown the types of Schlegel's fish at Leyden, I found the two specifically 

 identical. 



The earlier stages of growth in all fishes are interesting, more especially as they may 

 be one means of deciding the original forms from which certain genera have probably 

 been developed. It is, therefore, very desirable that all such should be recorded as 

 discovered, even if merely as an incentive to further research. In 1867, I obtained 



