29fi. JAPANESE CH.ETCmONTID.E— JORDAN AND FOWLER. 527 



Platax gaimardi Cuvier and Valenciennes, Hist. Poiss., VII, 1831, p. 216; New 



Guinea. 

 Platax leschenaldi Cuviek and Valenciennes Hist. Poiss., VII, 1831, p. 223; 



Pondicherry, New Guinea. 

 Platax punctulatus Cuvier and Valenciennes Hist. Poiss., VII, 1831, p. 228; 



Timor. 

 I'latax vesjjeriilio japonictis Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, Poiss., 1846, p. S3, pi. xliii; 



Platax xanthopus Bleeker, Verb. Bat. Gen., XXIII, Chaet., 1850, p. 28; Batavia, 



Java.— GiiNTHER, Cat. Fish., II, 1860, p. 490. 

 Platax boerni Bleeker, DerdeBijtr. Celebes, III, 1852, p. 758; INIacassar, Celebes. — 



GuNTHER, Cat. Fish., II, 1860, p. 490. 

 Platax anagou Montrousier, Fauna "Woodlark, 1857, p. 170; Woodlark Island. 

 Platax ieira Jordan and Evermann, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., XXV, 1902, p. 356; 



Formosa. 



Head 3; depth greater than the length by the depth of the caudal 

 peduncle. D. V-33; A. 111-20; P. 1-16; V. I-T; scales 28-76-46. 

 Body very deep and couipressed, very much elevated both above and 

 ))elow, and covered with small ctenoid scales which extend over the 

 })ases of the vertical fins where they become reduced in size and ver}^ 

 numerous. Head deep, its anterior profile very steep; snout hardlj'^ 

 projecting, straight; eyes high, li in snout, 3| in head and 1| in inter- 

 orbital space; mouth small, the maxillary not reaching beyond the 

 posterior nostril, its distal extremity as broad as the space between 

 the anterior and posterior nostrils, which is two-fifths the eye; teeth 

 in jaws slender, compressed, the edges notched or denticidate, and in 

 bands; scales on the cheeks very small; nostrils about eiiual, the ante- 

 rior pair level with the middle of the eye and the posterior pair above 

 but directly in front of the margin of the e3'e; interorbital space con- 

 vex. Origin of the dorsal in front of that of the anal, the spines 

 graduated to the last which is the longest and joined to the soft dor- 

 sal; soft dorsal exceedingly long, the anterior ra3"s from the first grad- 

 uated to the last and higher than the depth of the body; anal spines 

 graduated and joined to the soft anal which is similar to the soft dor- 

 sal except that it is lower; pectoral short, 1^ in the head, below the 

 gill-opening and behind the ventrals; ventrals under the posterior part 

 of the eye, very long, extending posteriorly to the base of the caudal; 

 caudal broad. Lateral line slightly arched to the base of the caudal. 

 Caudal peduncle compressed, and li in the pectoral. Length without 

 the caudal 5f inches. Here described from a young dried example 

 from Mij'ako. 



Notes on a specimen in the Imperial Museum are as follows: 

 Head 4; depth If. D. IV-31 or 32; A. III-23; scales 73, small and 

 largest on the middle of the sides. Profile nearl}^ verticle, high at the 

 nape. Preopercle entire; preor])ital deep; eye 4 in head; maxillary 

 3i in head; teeth equal, brush-like and also on the vomer. Gill- 

 membranes joined to the isthmus. Dorsal spines rudiments along the 

 front of the dorsal ; soft dorsal and anal higher than the length of the 



