NO. 1287. JAPANESE TRIGGER-FISHES— JORDAN AND FOWLER. 283 



Head 3ii to 4; depth 2i to 2f ; D. 9; A. 9; scales on side of cara- 

 pace 9 or 10; across widest part of ventral surface 7; and from ven- 

 tral keel to middle of back 7 or S, Head deep, the protile in front 

 very steep, nearly vertical; snout projecting' li in head and 1^ across 

 forehead; eye high, 1^ in head and li across forehead; interorbital 

 deeply concave; eye about equal to its distance from gill slit in small 

 examples and g-reater in large ones; mouth small, inferior; lips ver}' 

 thick and fleshy; teeth small, narrow, and pointed; carapace i-angled, 

 and in the middle of the back an inconspicuous median keel; a pair of 

 sharp, pointed, anterior, supra-orl)ital spines; in the small specimens 

 very long and the adults shorter, pointing out forward; dorsal ridges 

 not conspicuously marked except about the low, blunt, median spine, 

 on each side before the dorsal fin; a similar spine to the lateral dorsal 

 spines, and between them on the back; ventral ridges plain, and ter- 

 minating in a strong spine proiecting backward, which is very much 

 longer in 3"oung specimens; dorsal fin considerably in advance of anal 

 and higher; anal lieginning about midway between origin of dorsal 

 and base of caudal; caudal very long, 1| to 2i in body, the edge con- 

 vex and distallv expanded; pectoral short, about equal to snout, and 

 the upper rays the longest. Gill slit small, much less than eye. 



Color in spirits brownish; almost all the scales above and on sides 

 marked with dark brownish spots above and on sides; caudal peduncle 

 al)ove with round, dark-brown spots; above caudal with several round, 

 large ])lackish-brown spots, the upper and lower parts of the fin darker 

 than the center; dorsal, anal, and pectoral plain; snout dark, blackish- 

 brown; lips pale. Largest specimen, 7] 9 inches. Two very small 

 specimens have the dorsal and ventral ridges very pronounced, a deep, 

 short body, the sides and upper surface strongly striated, and the cau- 

 dal short, and its base rather high. Here described from Misaki spec- 

 imens. It Avas not taken by us elsewhere in Japan. It is common in 

 the East Indies, and we have numerous examples from Manila. 



{corn at u)^, horned.) 



17. ARACANA Gray. 



Aracana Gray , Ann. Nat. His., I, 1838, p. 110 [aurilus). 

 Areraud Kaup, Wiegmann's Archiv., 1855, p. 219 (same type?). 

 Capropygla Kaup, Wiegmann's Archiv., 1855, p. 220 {unistriata) . 

 Kentocapros Kaup, Wiegmann's Archiv., 1855, p. 220. 

 Anoplocapros Kaup, Wiegmann's Archiv., 1855, p. 221 (grai/i). 



This genus differs from Ostraclon in having the cai'apace open 

 behind the anal fin. The species vary in form almost as much as 

 do those of Ostracion. The single Japanese species belongs to the 

 subgenus Capropygia^ having spines on the ridges but none above 

 the eye. In Aracana proper there are spines over the eye, and the 

 alidomen is crested, while in Apojdocapros the back and belly are 

 crested, but no spines are present anywhere. 

 {aracana^ a meaningless name.) 



