190 BULLETIN 10 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



jaws in 4 or 5 irregular series and outer enlarged row; young with 

 distinct pair of wide-set canines in front of each jaw; triangular 

 band of villiform teeth on vomer and band on each palatine, but 

 tongue edentulous; interorbital 3 to 4, broadly convex, often flat- 

 tened medially; infraorbital width at maxillary end 2 to 21/8 in eye; 

 preopercle edge minutely serrate, serrae little enlarged around angle. 

 Gill rakers 7 or 8 + 15 or 16, lanceolate, slightly longer than gill 

 filaments in young to 1% in gill filaments with age or 1% in eye. 



Scales 47 to 57 in lateral line to caudal base and 4 to 6 more on 

 latter; 7 scales above lateral line, 14 or 15 below, 13 to 17 predorsal, 

 7 rows on cheek. Suprascapula denticulate, or rough with age. 

 Scales with 9 or 10 basal radiating striae; apical denticles 44 to 90, 

 small, weak points, with 3 to 8 transverse series of basal elements; 

 circuli very fine or minute. 



D. X, 11, I, spines rather flexible, fourth 21/4 to 2% in total head 

 length, first ray 2y8 to 3, last ray 1% to 2; A, III, 8, i, third spine 

 31/4 to 4%, first ray 3 to 3l^, last ray 2 to 214, over twice length of 

 penultimate ray; caudal 1% with age, 2i^ to 2% in combined head 

 and body in young, deeply forked; least depth of caudal peduncle 

 3 to 3% in total head length ; pectoral 1% to 1% ; ventral II/3 to 1%. 



Largely pale brown to scarcely paler below. Under surfaces often 

 glossed silvery white. Iris yellowish white to light brown. Fins all 

 dull or pale brownish. 



Mauritius, Andamans, Singapore, East Indies, Formosa, China, 

 Japan. Serranus argyrogramonicus Valenciennes, as figured by 

 Sauvage, seems to be the earliest notice of this species. Jordan and 

 Evermann's figure of Plcdyimus spams surely is the same as my 

 Sumatra examples. Evidently the prolonged last dorsal ray has 

 been broken and possibly the filament to the upper caudal lobe may 

 also have been present as in my material. Bleeker's Pristi-poTnoides 

 typus is a synonym, likewise his Dentex pristipoma and Mesoprion 

 dentex. Mesoprion Tmdtidens Day is another synonym. 



27602, 27603 A.N.S.P. Padang, Sumatra. A. C. Harrison and H. L. Hiller. 

 Length 240 to 245 mm. When fresh in arrack rosy red, becoming silvery 

 below. Lower parts and side of head silvery. Spinous dorsal tinged with 

 pale greenish yellow and other fins all more or less pale. Base of caudal 

 dull orange. 



Subgenus Pristipomoides Bleeker 



Scales 62 to 70 in lateral line to caudal base. 



pristipomoides MICROLEPIS (Bleeker) 



Chaetopterus microlcpis Bleeker, Versl. Meded. Akad. Wet. Amsterdam, ser. 



2, vol. 3, 1869, p. 80. Amboina ; Bourbon Island ; Rech. Faune Madagascar, 



Pollen et Van Dam, pt. 4, 1874, pi. 17, fig. 2. 

 Aprioii (Aprion) microlepis Ble3ckeb, Rech. Faune Madagascar, Pollen et Van 



Dam, pt. 4, 1874, p. 26 (Amboina; Bourbon) ; Atlas Ichth. Ind. Neerland., 



vol. 8, 1876-1877, p. 78 (Amboina). 



