EPHIPPUS FABER. 109 



Chaetodon faber, Block, Ichth., p. 80, pi. 212, fig. 2. 



Cha3todon oviformis, Milch., Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. N. Y., vol. i. pi. 5, fig. 4. 



Ephippus faber, Ciw. el Vol., Hist. Nat. Poiss., torn. vii. p. 213. 



Ephippus faber, DeKay, Zool. N. Y., part iv. p. 97, pi. 23, fig. 68. 



Ephippus faber, Slorer, Synops., p. 87. 



Angel-fish, Vulgo. 



Description. The form of this fish, without the tail, is sub-orbicular ; the 

 head is short, elevated, prominent between the eyes, though much less so than in 

 Ephippus gigas. 



The eye is placed rather above the median plane of the head, and nearer to the 

 posterior angle of the opercle than to the snout ; it is very large, with the pupil 

 dusky, and the iris silvery, clouded with grey. The nostrils are double; the 

 posterior and larger is an ellijitical fissure, near the orbit, and directed downwards 

 and forwards ; the anterior is much smaller, round, and lower down, though on 

 a line within the orbit. 



The mouth is small, with the lips tolerably thick and fleshy ; the upper jaw is 

 slightly protractile ; the lower is rather shorter, and both are armed with several 

 closely approximated series of bristly teeth, rather largest at their roots ; the 

 pharyngeal teeth are of the same form, but slightly shorter. The tongue is 

 smootli, and tolerably thick. The pre-opercle is rounded and finely serrated, 

 both at its angle and ascending border, and is covered with scales, as is the 

 whole head, except the lips and the space between the eyes. The opercle is 

 narrow, and its scales are little less in size than those of the body. The gill- 

 openings are large, and almost vertical; there are six branchial rays, though 

 only three are evident without dissection. 



The dorsal fin begins at the most elevated part of the back, nearly opposite 

 the middle of the pectoral ; its anterior portion has eight spines, united by a 

 transparent membrane, and received in a groove ; the first spine is minute, the 

 second larger ; the third is longest of all, and sustains a prolonged filament, which 



