SEEEANUS. 7 



tion is lower than the soft. The spines are of moderate strength ; the third, fourth, and 

 fifth are the longest, and about one-third the length of the head ; the second is equal to 

 the last ; there is a shallow notch between the spinous and soft portions. The soft 

 portion is subquadrangular in shape, with a curved upper margin. The first ray is one- 

 third longer than the last spine ; the third to the twelfth are subequal in length. 



The caudalis is rounded, narrow bands of scales running between the rays to three- 

 fourths of the length of the fin. The anal commences a little behind the beginning of 

 the soft dorsal ; the first spine is feeble, and one-half the length of the second, which is 

 much stronger ; the third is longer, but weaker than the second ; it is about equal to 

 the second of the dorsal, and is contained four times in the length of the head. The 

 posterior angle of the soft portion is rounded ; the longest rays are the fourth, fifth, and 

 sixth, which equal the longest of the dorsal. The pectorals consist of eighteen rays ; 

 they are rounded, longer than the ventrals, and covered with small scales to one-third of 

 their length. The ventrals are rather small, and do not nearly reach the vent; the 

 spine is equal to the second of the dorsal ; the longest ray (the third) is longer than the 

 longest of the dorsal. 



The canine teeth are very feeble in the upper, and inconspicuous in the lower jaw. 



Var. a [423]. The ground-colour is brownish grey, lighter on the belly. On the 

 body there are about five rather irregular obliquely transverse series of large darker 

 spots, about as large as the orbit ; those above are rather larger, and those on the lower 

 parts of the body are rather smaller. The upper parts of the head are covered with 

 small brown spots ; all the fins, the spinous portion of the dorsal excepted, are covered 

 with rather crowded, round, dark-brown spots, much smaller than those on the body, 

 and larger than those on the head. 



A single specimen of this variety was obtained at the Seychelles. 



Var. b [389]. Colour light brown, with two longitudinal series of large, rounded, 

 brown spots, about as large as the orbit, — the upper composed of five spots, running 

 along the base of the dorsal ; the lower formed of three or four. The head, body, and 

 fins are covered with numerous densely crowded subpolygonal dark-brown spots, each 

 about the size of the pupil ; they are most distinct on the lower parts, where they are 

 separated by a network of whitish lines. There is a subquadrangular black blotch on 

 the back of the tail, behind the dorsal. 



Two specimens of this variety were found at Zanzibar. 



Both varieties appeared to be of about the same age; their length is 15 inches. 



15. Serranus marginalis. [53, 458.] 



Epinephelus marginalis, Block, t. 328. f. 1. 



Serranus marginalis, Cuv. fy Val. ii. p. 301 ; Gunth. Fish. i. p. 135 ; Peters, Monatsber. Ak. Wiss. 

 Berlin, 1865, p. 109. 



