526 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxv. 



of the back. Mouth small, terminal, horizontal; prcmaxillaries 

 slig-htl}^ protractile; maxillary short, without supplemental ])one, jaws 

 with bands of slender, |)ointed, movable, brush-like teeth; nostrils 

 doul)le; preopercle entire; gill-membranes broadly attached to the 

 ))r()ad scaly isthnuis, the openings restricted to sides; ])ranchiostegals 

 6 or 7; pyloric cwca few; gill rakers very short; pseudobranchiie 

 present. Dorsal lin continuous, 5 or 6 spines graduated and closely 

 attached to the soft rays; soft dorsal and anal lins anteriorly high, 

 their bases thickened ])y the scales; anal spines 3, graduated; caudal 

 fin truncate; pectorals short, the rays all branched; ventrals thoracic, 

 I, 5, usualh' elongate l)ut sometimes rudimentary; a large accessory 

 scale as in the Sjxtr/'dn^: air bladder large. Vertebra 10 + 14 = 24. 

 Post-temporal pro))ably lufurcate and not solidly joined to the skull. 

 A small group of fishes of the Asiatic seas related to the Chxtodon- 

 tida" but showing differences in the skeleton. We here include with 

 the Plataeldx the genus Monodactyhis {— Psettus Cuvier), which has 

 the general characters of the Platacidye^ but the ventral-s are rudimen- 

 tar}'. The body is still deeper than in Platax. 



5. PLATAX Cuvier. 

 P/o/fM- CrviER, Eegne Animal, Isted., 1, 1817, p. ;>.S4 {h'ira^. 

 Characters of the genus included a])ove; the ventral fins well devel- 

 oped, the rays 1, 5. 

 [nXarvs^ broad.) 



a. Dorsal with 28 to 34 soft rays; anal with 24 to 28; anterior profile rather evenly 

 curved, without angle; 35 to 45 scales between first dorsal spine and lateral 

 line; dorsal spines 5; teeth on the vomer in young individuals only. . Jeira, 6. 



6. PLATAX TEIRA (Forskal). 



TSUBAMEUWO (SWALLOW FISH); TSUBAKURODAI (SWALLOW PERCH 



OR TAI). 



Chxiodon ieira Forshal, Descript. Animal, 1775, p. (50; Lohajse. 



Chfctodon teira Cuvier, Regne Animal, 1st ed., 1817, p. 354. — Cuvier and Valen- 

 ciennes, Hist. Poiss., VH, 1831, p. 226; Malabar. — Cantor, Malayan Fish, 

 1850, p. 168.— Gunther, Cat. Fish., II, 1860, p. 492; Moluccas, Borneo, 

 Ceram, China, Pinang. — Kner, Novara Fische, 1866, p. 166. — Klunzinger, 

 Fische Rothen Meeres, 1870, p. 791.— Bleeker, Atlas, Ichth. Chaet., 1877-78, 

 p. 73, pi. XVII, fig. 2; Sumatra, Batu-Nias, Pinang, Singapore, Bintang, Bangka, 

 Cocos, Java, Madura, Bewean, Borneo, Celebes, Sumbawa, Timor, Ternate, 

 Batjan, Ceram, Amboina, Goram, New Guinea.— Ishikawa, Prel. Cat., 1897, 

 p. 41; Riukiu, Bonin Islands, Kagoshima (also No. 749, p. 43; Tokyo). 



Chsetodon rfaai-or Bonnaterre, Ichth., p. 81, pi. xvx, [)1. (CCLxxxi.x, 1788; Malabar 

 (after Cliwlodon teira Bloch). 



Chxetodon arthriticus Bell, Philos. Trans., 1793, p. 8, pi. vi; Sumatra. 



Platax arthriticuH, Cuvier and Valenciennes, Hist. Poiss., VII, 1831, p. 229; 

 Java.— GtJNTHER, Cat. Fish., II, 1860, p. 492; Amboyna, Pinang. 



Platax albipunclatus Rijppell, Atlas N. A. Fische, 1828, p. 69, pi. xviii, fig. 1; 

 Red Sea. 



