129 



THE ORIENTAL GRAMISTES. 



Gramistes orientalis — Blocii. 



PLATE XVI. 



Gramistes orientalis, Block — Le Gramiste oriental, 

 Cuv. et Valen. Hist. ^^ut. des Poissons. 



D. 7—1.13; A. 3.8; C. 17; P. 14; V. 1.3. 



Gramistes is the last genus of the Perches 

 with two dorsal fins, or where there is a visible 

 separation between the spined and soft parts. 

 That established by Bloch contained several 

 species ; by Cuvier, however, it is restricted to 

 the fish of the accompanying plate, the only one 

 yet discovered. It approaches nearest in structure 

 to the Rypticus arenatus of Plate XXX, but is at 

 once distinguished by the double dorsal fin. The 

 present fish was described long since in the 

 work of Seba. It is of small size, not exceeding 

 five or six inches, and, when newly taken from 

 the water, seems without scales, which are 

 very small, but appear on the skin being dried. 

 The opercle has three short spines. The 

 markings of this fish are very singular : the 

 ground colour is a brownish black, with longi- 

 tudinal l»"es of white on each side, generally 

 I 



