126 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Holocentrum sjnniferitm Gtlir. Cat. Fishes Brit, Mus. i, 39, 1859. (In part; the speci- 

 mens from the Pacific.) 



Habitat. — Society, "VVaigiou, Kokos, Batjan, Amboyna, Batu, Celebes, 

 Manado, and Johnston's Islands. 



Head 3 (3^) ; depth 2^ (3) -, D. XI, 15-lG ; A. IV, 10 ; scales 34-45-8. 



Body ovate, compressed, elevated. Profile rather steep ; from snout 

 to occiput slightly concave, thence evenly curved. Mouth oblique, 

 maxillary terminating opposite anterior half of pupil ; lower jaw pro- 

 duced ; snout pointed, 3^ in head ; eye 4 in head ; interorbital space 7 

 in head ; intermaxillary groove as long as snout. The lower of the two 

 opercular spines smaller than the upper. The prominent strife of oper- 

 cle and suprascapula end in jioints, producing shari^ly serrate margins; 

 all the other bones of shoulder-girdle smooth -, subopercle scarcely 

 striate, rather reticulate, its margin nearly smooth ; posterior half of 

 interopercle serrate; preopercle with a strong spine at the angle, which 

 varies in length from 1 J to 2^ in the height of the straight upright limb 

 of preopercle ; posterior edge of preopercle coarsely serrate and slightly 

 slanted forwards. Nasal bones prominent. Fan-like striations on oc- 

 ciput, and all the occipital bones coarsely serrate on their margins. 

 The orbital rim much narrower than in H. erythrmis, also less deeply 

 lobed and more finely denticulate. Supraocular region rough with mi- 

 nute spines. As in R. crythrcvns, the infraorbital bone has a blunt 

 tooth in front of the supplemental maxillary bone, and another beneath 

 front part of eye, leaving the intervening space lunate and more or less 

 serrate. 



First dorsal spine is If in the third, which is the highest, and If in 

 depth of body ; the fourth is a trifle lower than the third, and thence 

 the spines decrease regularly in height to the eleventh, which is 3f in: 

 the highest spine. In soft part of dorsal the third, fourth, fifth, and. 

 sixth rays are highest and equal the highest si)ine ; the last ray less 

 than a third of the highest ; first ray unbranched, 1^ in greatest depth 

 of the fin, the margin rounded. 



Caudal not deeply forked, its lobes rounded and about equal. Anal 

 similar to soft dorsal, its third spine strong, 1\ in third dorsal s-piue.; 

 Ventrals If in head. Pectorals scarcely longer. 



Color, in spirits, nearly uniform. Cheeks and dorsnl region some- 

 what darker than elsewhere, there being dark puuctalations on the 

 scales. Faint whitish lines follow the rows of scales along the sides, 

 and are most noticeable on the caudal peduncle. The " halved" scales 

 at base of spinous dorsal are of a bluish white superiorly. Fins plain, 

 except that in one specimen the pectoral shows on the base of the 

 rays on its posterior side a small gray spot formed by very minute 

 punctulations. Peritoneum light. 



Two fine specimens (29180), 11^ inches in length. 



