262 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxv. 



ee. Dorsal and anal very long, each of 36 to 50 rays; body lean and strongly 

 compressed; dorsal spine without barbs; gill opening long, oblique. 

 g. Dorsal spine feeble, inserted over the eye; dorsal rays about 45. 

 /t. Caudal fin short, subtruncate, anterior profile convex ..Alutera, 13. 

 hh. Caudal fin elongate, rounded, or lanceolate; anterior profile con- 

 cave, the snout very long Osbeckin, 14. 



gg. Doral spine straight, inserted well in advance of eye; dorsal rays 

 about 43 Paeudaluteri'H, 15. 



7. MONACANTHUS Cuvier. 



Mo7iacanthuK Cuvier, Regne Animal, 1st ed., 1817, p. 152 {chineiisis.) 

 Body short and deep, very strongly compressed, covered with minute, 

 rough scales, the anterior profile more or less concave. Mouth very 

 small; upper jaw with a double series of incisor-like teeth, usually 6 in 

 the outer and 4 in the inner series; lower jaw with about 6 incisors in 

 a sing-le series; teeth connivent, unequal; gill opening a small slit, 

 shorter than the eye, and just in front of upper edge of pectoral. Dorsal 

 spine large, armed with 2 series of retrorse l)arbs, and no conspicuous 

 filaments; second dorsal and anal fins similar to each other, of about 25 

 to 35 raA's each; caudal fin moderate, rounded ; pelvic bone with a blunt, 

 movable spine, the bone connected to the abdomen by a mova])le flap, 

 or dewlap, of very great size, extending far Ijeyond the body, like a fin, 

 and supported by branched flexible rays, resembling fin rays; side of 

 tail often with a patch of spines, especially in the males. Vertebrae 

 7 + 11 to 1-1 = IS to 21. Species few, in warm seas, reaching a mod- 

 erate size. All are lean fishes, with leathery skin, and bitter flesh 

 unsuitable for flood. 



{fAovog, one: aKtxvBa, spine.) 



9. MONACANTHUS CHINENSIS (Osbeck). 



Balistes cMnemiR Osbeck, Iter Chinensis, 1757, p. 147; China. — Bloch, Ichthyol., 



II, 1787, p. 29, in later editions pi. lii, fig. 1; China. 

 Monacanihus chinensis, Cuvier, Regne Animal, 1st ed., p. 152, 1817 (name only). — 



Bleeker, Atlas Ichth., V, 18H5-69, p. 125, pi. ccxxii, fig. 2.— Gunther, Cat. 



Fish., VIII, 1870, p. 236; China, Pinang, Singapore, Shanghai. 

 Balistes sinensis Gmelin, Syst. Ichth., I, 1788, p. 1470 (after Bloch). 

 Monacantlms geographicus ("Peron"), Cuvier, Regne Animal, 2d ed., 1829, p. 



373; Pinang. — Cantor, Malayan Fishes, 1850, p. 347; Pinang, Singapore. 

 Monacanihus cantoris Bleeker, Nat. Tyds. Ned. Ind., Ill, 1852, p. 80 (after Cantor). 

 Balistes granulosus Gronow, Syst., Ed. Gray, 1854, p. 34; Indian Seas. 



Head 3f ; depth 2 at origin of dorsal. D. I. 32; A. 31. Body com- 

 pressed, deep, and covered with small scales; very rough. Head deep, 

 the upper profile concave; snout produced upward, li in head; eye 

 high, small, i^ in head, 3^ in snout, li in interorbital space, equal to 

 space between its lower margin and upper edge of gill opening, and 

 li in the gill opening; mouth small, high, and level with the upper 

 part of the gill opening; lips smooth, thick, and fleshy; teeth strong 



