124 



backwards to the dorsal, with an acute, though not ele- 

 vated, mesial, scaly ridge, extending from the fin to the 

 occiput. At the beginning of the dorsal the body is round, 

 and from thence it tapers gradually to the base of the cau- 

 dal fin, the tail being slightly compressed. The muscles 

 of the back and belly swell so as to place the dorsal and 

 anal fins in grooves. The length of the head is comprised 

 four times and three quarters in the total length, caudal 

 included, and its height at the eyes is less than a third of 

 its own length. The large oval orbits, being very near 

 each other, have a vertical and outward aspect. Their 

 margins are smooth and slightly raised above the narrow- 

 isthmus between them, and the full eyes swell above the 

 line of the profile. The integument round the ball of the 

 eye forms a loose fold, and I can detect no other a]ipear- 

 ance of the nictitating membrane mentioned by Forster. 

 The preorbitar, large and triangular, with its apex pointing 

 forward, has a smooth, even edge, with some low smooth 

 ridges radiating forward on its surface. The preorbitar lip, 

 stretching over the pedicles of the premaxillaries, is cor- 

 rectly described by Forster, " C. labia siiinmo semilunaio, 

 aiitrorsiim bispiiioso," the spiny tips of the crescent being 

 the subulate shoulders of the maxillaries (figs. 8, 9). The 

 maxillary comes into view when the jaws are fully ex- 

 tended, but when the mouth is closely shut it is retracted 

 entirely under the preorbitar and scaly edge of the cheek. 

 The premaxillaries, with very slight development of lip, 

 form the entire upper jaw, and play beneath the preorbitar 

 lip, descending when protruded, but not altering the hori- 

 zontality of the gape. The mandible is rather more acute 

 and a very little shorter : it is bordered by a thin mem- 

 branous lip, which widens towards the corner of the 

 mouth, and folds back when the jaws are closed. The 

 gape extends back to the front of the orbit. The nostrils 

 are situated a short way before the eye, close to the upper 

 edge of the preorbitar. Forster says, " A'ares inter oculos 

 minimcB, orbiculnres, coutiguce" but he evidently mistook 

 for them a small cluster of pores (fig. 10). The preorbitars 

 are bordered with pores, and there are clusters of others on 

 the mandible and disk of the preoperculum (vide figs. 8,9, 

 10). These parts, the gill-membrane, and the isthmus be- 

 tween the eye, are scaleless. Moderately large scales co- 

 ver the entire cheek, except the very narrow suborbitar 

 chain : the operculum, suboperculum and interoperculum 

 are also densely scaly. The bones of the gill-cover are 

 thin, smooth and transparent. The operculum is triangu- 

 lar, and tapers posteriorly to a point, which shows like a 

 minute spine among the scales, at the upper part of the 

 gill-cover, close to the supra-scapulars. The subopercu- 

 lum is considerably larger in all its dimensions, and has a 

 smooth convex surface, with a tapering point, forming the 

 apex of the gill-cover, and is not scaly like the rest of the 

 gill-fiap (fig. 9). The gill-opening is ample, running for- 

 ward on each side of the nape, and also beneath, to the 

 root of the tongue. The gill-membrane, which is tolerably 

 large, is completely concealed when the jaws are closed by 

 the approaching limbs of the mandible and scaly inter- 

 operculum. Its rays are long, slender and curved. 



The teeth are short and setaceous. They stand in a 

 band four or five deep on the premaxillaries and mandibu- 



lar bones ; also in a small irregular tuft on each exterior 

 corner of the end of the vomer, the mesial space being 

 smooth. They are crowded on the pharyngeals, forming a 

 hemispherical cluster on each upper bone, and a more flat 

 dental surface on the lower ones. There are no teeth on 

 the isthmus of the gills or on the tongue. The rakers of the 

 branchial arches are sessile knobs. Within the mouth, be- 

 fore the vomer, there are two prominent knobs, which are 

 each formed by a cushion of integument, covering a short 

 tubular process of the maxillary which runs beneath the 

 premaxillary pedicle. 



The scales are moderately large, and of an irregular, 

 semi-ovate form, most of them having an acute point in 

 the middle of the free edge, and being cut transversely at 

 the base by a waving line, which produces a very shallow 

 middle lobe. There are from eighteen to twelve fan-like 

 striae on the base, which do not produce crenatures on the 

 margin. The free edge is perfectly entire. The lines of 

 structure are nearly obsolete on the disk, fine and trans- 

 verse behind, and longitudinal in a triangular space on the 

 sides, where they are also more evident. The scales of the 

 lateral line (fig. 12), which is straight or with a slight 

 descent in the humeral region, have a short mesial tube, 

 and their free edges are laciniated : there are from forty- 

 four to forty-eight scales on this line, the specimen figured 

 having forty-four. 



The pectorals are oval and rounded. The elliptical, 

 acute pointed ventrals are attached before the ventrals un- 

 der the superior angle of the gill-opening : their short 

 slender spine has a flexible tip. The scaly space between 

 them exceeds the width of one of their bases in breadth, 

 and their tips when laid back touch the first anal ray. 

 The dorsal, commencing nearly over the middle of the 

 pectorals, and extending to within a short distance of the 

 caudal fin, has an even outline ; the posterior rays, how- 

 ever, becoming gradually somewhat shorter. The third or 

 fourth ray stands over the anus. All the rays are jointed, 

 tapering and flexible, except one or two of the middle 

 ones, which are split at the tip, and the last, which is 

 forked. The anal commences close to the anus, is not 

 quite so high as the dorsal, and is also supported by jointed 

 rays, the first one being unbranched, and the others uni- 

 laterally branched at their tips. The membrane of both 

 fins is very delicate and readily torn, and was not complete 

 in any of our specimens. The caudal is composed of eight 

 forked rays, and four graduated unbranched ones above 

 and three below. The rays being very brittle the fin is 

 easily mutilated, and consequently some uncertainty exists 

 as to its proper form. Forster drew it as being lunate at 

 the end ; Dr. Dicflenbach as being truncated, with an 

 elongation of the upper angle ; and in our specimens it ap- 

 pears round, but is not perfect. 



Forster describes the body as being coloured of a livid 

 red ; the dorsal as being marked with scattered red spots, 

 and the other fins as reddish ; the iris reddish and silvery. 

 Dr. Dieffenbach's sketch, which is unfinished, is coloured 

 wax-yellow, with five oblique blue streaks on the cheek, 

 and some blue streaks in blotches on the sides ; purplish 

 and red lines on the dorsal and edge of the anal ; the rest 

 of the latter fin, the pectorals and ventrals,being aurora-red. 



