374 THE PBOCEEDINGS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY 



I have only seen one specimen of this beautiful fish. It was 

 caught on the 20th of March, 1878. It measures nearly two feet in 

 length. The anterior part of the head seems fco have been injured 

 at a previous part of its life, probably by the bite of some other 

 fish, as the snout seems to be abnormally short. 



If it had not been for the very good figure given by Cuvier and 

 Valenciennes of a species of this genus (fiircatus, pi. 167), I 

 should not have been able to find it out in the system, as the 

 characters of the genus given by Dr. Gunther are very defective, 

 He says, " Praeoperculum entire, scales rather small." Cuvier, 

 on the other hand, figures and describes the strong striee of the 

 pra3opercle, which in some sorts become a striated edge ; but 

 having only seen one specimen, I cannot say if this character is 

 permanent. This sort seems to me to be the one that Dr. 

 Blecker thinks (Amboyna, p. 52) to belong to rutilans of Cuvier, 

 but it is very diff'erent, by the number of its spines and rays. 



It would thus be an inhabitant of the Molluccas, and would 

 visit the east coast of Australia during the warm months of the 

 year. 



In the journal, Mus. Godefl. Fishes No. Ill, p. 16, Dr. Gunther 

 places Aphareus ccerulesceus under the name of furcatus, Lacep- 

 III, p. 421, and 477, fig. I. 



In that work he places this genus between Ajprion and Pria- 

 canthus. In the catalogue he had placed it in the Pristipomatidoiy 

 and Cuvier places it in an appendix to the Sparoidce. 



Aplodacttlus obscurus. 



On each jaw two lines of tricuspid teeth ; some of these 

 teeth are single pointed, but serrated on their sides ; the 

 cheeks and opercles are covered with small scales ; the 

 head is high ; rounded in front ; depressed behind the 

 eyes ; the back rather gibbous in front ; pectorals with seven 

 simple rays, of which the seventh, or the uppermost, is the 

 longest ; it projects only very little beyond its membrane. 

 The dorsal has seventeen spines, the fifth and sixth of which are 

 the longest ; the soft part of the fin is formed of nineteen rays, 

 nearly three times as long as the last spine ; the caudal is forked ; 



