120 



ARABIAN CHEILODIPTERUS. 



Cheilodipterus Arabicus, Cuv. et Val. 



PLATE XII. 



Le Cheilodiptere Arabique, Cuv. et Valen. Hist. Nat. 

 des Poissons, ii. p. 165. 



B. 7; D. 6— 1.10 or 1.9; P. 14; V. 1.6; A. 2.9 or 1.8; C. 17. 



The Arabian Cheilodipterus illustrates another 

 genus of Lacepede, formed from one of Com- 

 merson's fishes, and bearing the same relation to 

 Apogon, which Lucioperca does to the Perch. The 

 double edged preopercle, finely serrated ; the two 

 dorsal fins far removed, and the scaling large, 

 but easily rubbed off; while a portion of the 

 teeth are long, sharp, and rather strong. The 

 fish represented on Plate XII. is a native of the 

 Red Sea, where it is frequently taken by the 

 Arabs. The colour of the upper parts is a fresh 

 olive green, changing on the sides and belly to 

 silvery, deeply tinted with a reddish or rose 

 colour. The whole body is marked longitudi- 

 nally with dark lines, somewhat following the 

 bend of the fish, and amounting in number to 

 from fourteen to seventeen. At the insertion of 

 the tail there is a cross band of the same colour 



