FISHES OF THE PHILIPPINE AND ADJACENT SEAS 221 



central portion of scales, dark portion of body shows still darker stripe through 

 center of each scale row. Head similar to body, but with somewhat purplish 

 overshade; lips and top of chin yellow; purple stripe across snout and chin join- 

 ing at corner of mouth, fork again, front stripe passing across upper preorbital 

 and through nostril; lower base to lower edge of eye, thence branching down- 

 ward across cheek and giving off another branch even with front of eye, which 

 passes downward in front of cheek to lower edge of subopercle. Tips of dorsal 

 spines and rays hyaline; very obscure slaty stripe through outer half of fin, 

 apparent only on soft portion. Caudal white tipped, an obscure slaty purple 

 band through outer half and irregularly second nearer base. Anal white at 

 margin, most prominent in front, with about three blue bars. Ventrals black, 

 with dashes of purple. Pectorals dusky hyaline yellowish at bases of rays, 

 purple black on fleshy base. 



17057. Bisucay Island, near Cuyo. April 9, 1909. Length, 139 mm. [1514.] 



1 example, Danawan and Si Amil Islands. September 27, 1909. Length, 

 97 mm. 



16642. Galera Bay, Mindoro. June 9, 1908. Length, 123 mm. 



10909. Isabel, Basilan. April 11, 1909. Length, 144 mm. 



21298 and 21300. Tidore Island, south of Ternate. November 24, 1909. 

 Length, 105 to 111 mm. 



52459 U.S.N.M. Apia, Samoa. Bureau of Fisheries. Length, 60 to 82 mm. 

 3 examples. 



Genus LABROIDES Bleeker 



Ldbroides Bleeker, Nat. Tijds. Ned. Indie, vol. 2, 1851, p. 249. Type 



Labroides paradiseus Bleeker, monotypic. 

 Fissilahrus Kner, Sitz. Akad. Wiss. Wien, vol. 40, 1860, p. 14. Type 



Cossyphus dimidiatus Valenciennes, monotypic. 

 Diproclacanthus Bleeker, Proc. Zool. Soc. London [December 10], 1861, 



p. 415. Type Labroides xanthurus Bleeker, orthotypic. 



Body oblong, compressed. Snout pointed. Lips prominent, 

 lower divided into 2 lobes (Labroides) or without produced lobes 

 (Diproctacanthus). Teeth in jaw minute, in bands. Pair of curved 

 erect canines in front of each jaw, upper pair recurved in lower; 

 posterior canine each side. Gill membrane joined to isthmus. 

 Opercles, cheeks and bases of vertical fins scaly. Scales rather small, 

 35 to 50 in lateral line. Lateral line complete. Dorsal spines 9, 

 rays 9 to 11. Anal spines 2 or 3, rays 9 or 10. 

 Small fishes of the Indo-Pacific. 



ANALYSIS or THE SPECIES 



o^. Scales small, 48 to 51; median black lateral band, expanding out over 

 caudal fin dimidiatus. 



aK Scales large, 27 to 36. 



bK Median black lateral band, but not expanding behind or extending on 



caudal xanthurus. 



b^. No black lateral band; front half of body abruptly blackish, posterior 



whitish and in strong contrast bicolor. 



