FISHES OF THE PHILLIPINE SEAS AND ADJACENT WATERS 217 



Family OPLEGNATHIDAE 



Body rather short and deep, moderately compressed. Mouth 

 small, not protractile. Maxillary not concealed. Teeth continuous, 

 with structure of bones forming sharp trenchant jaw edge, like beak 

 in parrotfishes. No teeth on palate. Nostrils paired. Gills 4, slit 

 after last. Gill rakers 20 or 21. Gill membranes free from isthmus, 

 broadly united. Pseudobranchiae large. Branchiostegals 6 or 7. 

 Air bladder present. Pyloric coeca few. Subocular shelf present. 

 Scales very small, ctenoid. Soft vertical fins scaly basally. Lateral line 

 single, complete. Dorsal single, spines 12 and spinous fin larger than 

 soft. Anal spines 3, soft anal Hke soft dorsal. Caudal truncate or emar- 

 ginate. Ventrals thoracic, with spine and 5 rays, with axillary flap. 



South Africa, Japan, Australia, Peru. One genus with a few species, 

 chiefly in the Pacific. They differ from allied percoids in the united 

 teeth, suggestive of those of the scaroid or parrot fishes. They have 

 no affinities with any other group of fishes with fused or united teeth. 



Genus OPLEGNATHUS Richardson 



Oplegnathus Richardson, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, vol. 8, p. 27, 1840. (Tj'pe, 



Oplegnathus conwaii Richardson, monotypic.) 

 Hoplegnathus Richardson, Trans. Zool. Soc. London, vol. 3, p. 144, 1849. (Type, 



Oplegnathus conwaii Richardson.) 

 Hoplognathus (not Moely, 1819, Chadoir, 1835, nor Burmeister, 1844) Gun- 



THER, Zool. Rec, 1865, Pisces, p. 184. (Type, Oplegnathus conwaii Rich- 

 ardson.) 

 Scaradon Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, Poiss., pts. 5-6, p. 89, 1844. (Type, Scara- 



don fasciatus Schlegel, designated by Jordan, Genera of Fishes, pt. 2, p. 



223, 1919.) 

 Scarodon Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, Poiss., pt. 15, p. 318, 1850. (Type, Scaradon 



fasciatus Schlegel.) 

 Ichthyorhamphos Castelnau, Mem. Poiss. Afrique Australe, p. 35, 1861. (Type, 



Ichthyorhamphos pappei Castelnau, monotypic.) 

 Scarostoma Kner, Sitz. Ber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, math.-nat. KL, vol. 56, p. 715, 



1867. (Type, Scarostoma insigne Kner, monotypic.) 



Characters of the genus contained in those of the family. 



analysis op species 



a*. Oplegnathus. Spinous dorsal nearly or quite twice long as 11 to 14 rayed 

 soft dorsal; interorbital mostly naked. 

 6^ Young with dark vertical band through eye, broader one connects soft 



dorsal and anal; bands fade with age conwaii. 



6^. Five dark transverse bands, narrowing below woodwardi. 



o^. Scarostoma. Spinous dorsal slightly less than or not more than 1% long as 

 15 to 21 rayed soft dorsal; interorbital mostly scaly, 

 c'. Body with vertical blackish bands. 



d^. Interorbital naked; seven dark vertical bands fasciatus. 



d^. Interorbital scaly. 



e^ Five broad blackish vertical bands, both resulting pale bands as 



well as dark bands variably blotched or spotted darker, insignis. 



e2. Five black vertical bands robinsoni. 



