550 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxv. 



band; lower jaw mostly black; anterior part of body from first dorsal 

 spine to ventrals black, this crossed by two narrow vertical blue lines, 

 the first beginning- at origin of ventrals, extending upward and forward, 

 then backward just behind orbit, and ending on median line of back 

 in front of dorsal fin; the second beginning on abdomen, crosses body 

 at base of pectoral and ends at origin of dorsal fin; a third less dis- 

 tinct one extends upward and backward from eye; a l)road whitish 

 bar, nearly as broad as length of head, begins on anterior part of 

 dorsal fin and crosses body somewhat oliliquely backwai'd, covering- 

 anterior portion of anal fin; posteriorly this bar is washed with yel- 

 low or orange, which gradually fades into the white of the anterior 

 part; next comes a black bar one-half as wide, covering the leases of 

 about 14 dorsal rays and widening out upon the anal so as to cover 

 the greater part of al)out 24 rays; in the posterior part of this black 

 band is a narrow white line; next a yellow or orange band covering 

 all of the caudal peduncle and the posterior portions of the dorsal and 

 anal fins; caudal fin ))lack, a narrow white line at base; tip of caudal 

 fin with a crescent-.shaped ))order of white more or less washed with 

 yellowish; pectorals pale; ventrals l)lack. East Indies and islands 

 of Polynesia; common and widely distributed; ranging east to the 

 Hawaiian Islands and the offshore islands of Mexico, the young car- 

 ried northward in the Kuro Shiwo to the coasts of Japan, where it 

 is not rare in the rock pools of the headlands. Here described from a 

 specimen from Misaki, 3y| inches long. 



Bleeker recognizes two species of this genus, the common form, 

 Zanchis cornutus, with a preorbital spine in the adult, and a smaller 

 one, Zanchis canescens, deeper in the body with a spine before the eye. 

 All that we have seen are referable to Zanelus corindus^ but the other 

 shows no tangi])le difference. Cdnescens is the older name. 



{caneseen-s^ growing gray.) 



Family VI. ACANTHURID.E. 



SURGEON-FISHES. 



Body ol)long, compressed and usually elevated, covered with very 

 small scales; lateral line continuous. Tail armed with one or more 

 spines or bony plates. Eye lateral, high up; preorbital very narrow 

 and deep. Nostrils double. Mouth small, low; each jaw with a sin- 

 gle series of narrow incisor-like teeth; vomer and palatines toothless; 

 premaxillaries somewhat movable but not protractile ; maxillary short, 

 closely united with the premaxillary; gill rakers obsolete; pseudo- 

 branchise large; gills 4, a slit behind the fourth; gill-membranes 

 attached to the isthnuis, the openings thus restricted to the sides. A 

 single dorsal fin, with strong spines, the spinous part of the fin shorter 

 than the soft part; anal tin similar to soft dorsal; pectorals moder- 



