N0.1296. JAPANESE OHJ^JTODONTIDJ^JORDAK AND FOWLER. 537 



II. CHyETODON NIPPON Doderlein. 

 SHIRAKODAI (SMALL WHITE PERCH). 



Oiaelodon riippon DoDERLErN, Fische Japans, II, 1883, p. 23, pi. iv, fig 2; Tokyo. 



Head Sh depth 1|; D. XIII, 20; A. Ill, 17; P. I, 11; V. I, 5; 

 scales a])Out 4-49-20. Bod}" short, deep, strongl}' compressed; scales 

 moderately large on the sides, small and numerous on the head, soft 

 dorsal and anal, and the base of the caudal. Head small, the profile 

 oblique and nearly straight above; the snout not nuich produced and 

 pointed; eye greater than the snout, smaller than the interorbital 

 space, and a trifle over 3 in the head; mouth small, the maxillary not 

 reaching the anterior nostril; nostrils small, close together, and some 

 little distance in advance of the e3'e; teeth curved and projecting in 

 ])rush-like riands in each jaw; interorbital space convex; gill-opening 

 long, the luembrane obsolete; gill rakers short, weak, and not numer- 

 ous; lirst and second dorsal spines short and the others a])out equal, 

 the anterior ones more robust; highest rays of soft dorsal before the 

 middle, and the marg'inal angle very obtuse; first and second anal 

 spines robust, the third slender; soft anal high in the middle, and the 

 mai'gin of the fin rounded; pectoral low, not as far posteriorly as the 

 ventrals and equal to the head without the snout; ventral spine long-, 

 the tip of the fin falling short of the anus by the length of the snout; 

 caudal with the upper rays the longest and the edge obliquely straight. 

 Latei'al line high, concurrent with the margin of the dorsal fin, then 

 descending (^n the base of the caudal peduncle to the base of the caudal. 

 Caudal peduncle compressed, 3 in the head. 



Color in alcohol dark brown, the spinous dorsal behind, the soft 

 dorsal and the soft anal verv dark brown, the two latter being edged 

 narrowly with white; head dark above, the lips blackish; caudal 

 whitish with its termiiml portion broadly grayish. On the sides are 

 traces of many indistinct, longitudinal bands. Length 5}/; inches. 

 Here described from Misaki specimens. 



This species, the most northern of its genus, has been found only 

 al)Out the peninsulas of Izu and Sagami. We have five specimens, 

 one dredged by the U. S. Fish Commission steamer Alhatross in 

 Totomi Bay, near Hamamatsu from the rocks at Misaki, the others 

 from the Tokio market, doubtless from Awa or Misaki. 



{J^lppon, or Nip-hon, the general name of the Japanese Emjiire, 

 wrongly applied on European maps to the chief island, Hondo or 

 Honshyu.) 



