FISHES. — MCCULLOCH. 173 



Eyes small, much smaller than the spiracles, their length 

 2 §-3 in the interocular space. Postero-exterior angles of the 

 intemasal lobe separated from the hinder margin as small, 

 rounded tubercles ; posterior margin a httle sinuous, and 

 fimbriate. NostrUs large, confluent with the mouth, and 

 separated by a thick median frenum. Teeth pavement-hke 

 in the female ; each has an elongate flattened spine in the 

 male. A median papiDa behind the lower jaw, which is sub- 

 divided into two to four lobes ; there is another simple or 

 bifurcate one on each side of it, and one near each angle of 

 the jaws. 



Tail depressed, its width between the ventral fins sub- 

 equal to that of the mouth ; its length from the middle of 

 the vent is usually a httle less than that from the same point 

 to the mouth, but it is longer in young examples. The spine 

 is inserted at or shghtly in advance of the middle of its length ; 

 it is depressed, with serrated edges. Caudal fin originating 

 directly behind the end of the spine above, below the middle 

 of its length on the lower surface ; its A\adth is subequal to 

 that of the intemasal space, but is somewhat variable. 



Colour. — Rich ochreous yellow above when fresh, some- 

 times stained \\dth pink towards the edges of the disc. An 

 indefinite brown mechan dorsal stripe may extend from the 

 eyes to the dorsal spine. White below, piurphsh towards the 

 edges. In preservative, the disc becomes grey. 



Described from eleven specimens 245-387 mm. in total 

 length, most of Avhich were collected by the " Thetis " 

 Expedition. Foetal examples differ only in having the body 

 rather more circular, and the caudal fin ahnost black. 



U. aurantiacus was original^ described from a specimen 

 collected by Langsdorff at the Goto Islands, Japan^. It 

 was united with U. cruciatus by Dumeril,^ who has been 

 followed by most later writers, but it appears to constantly 

 differ in its colour-marking, though a careful comparison of 

 several specimens of both species fails to reveal any struc- 

 tural differences. Bleeker has identified specimens from 

 Port Jackson as U . aurantiacus, while those described above 

 appear to be ver}^ similar to Miiller and Henle's figure of that 

 species. 



Loc. — Off the Mamiing River to Port Kembla, New South 

 Wales, 20-84 fathoms. 



1. U. aurantiacus has been omitted from recent papers and catalogues 

 of Japanese fishes. It is perhaps identical with U. fuscus, Garman. 



2. Dumeril— Hist. Nat. Poiss., i. 2, 1865, p. 626. 



