FISHES OP THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AND ADJACENT SEAS 265 



below. Iris brownish. Lower caudal lobe, anal and ventral black- 

 ish. Pectoral pale. 



Red Sea, Arabia, Zanzibar, Mozambique, Delagoa Bay, Natal, 

 Persian Gulf, Seychelles, India, Ceylon, Pinang, Singapore, East 

 Indies, Philippines, Tonkin, China, Formosa, Riu Kiu, Japan, 

 Melanesia, Polynesia. Great variation with age is noticeable. The 

 young are quite unlike the adults and have five dark longitudinal 

 bands, these gradually narrowed as 2 or 3 principal dark bands. 

 The lowest bands break as spots and the intermediate upper pale 

 areas or bands form with dark line in each which gradually breaks 

 into spots. The black bands from the body extend on the dorsals and 

 caudal and break into spots on these fins gradually. In old examples, 

 often when preserved in alcohol, all spots disappear except traces 

 on the fins, where they are small, numerous and crowded. 



7949. Batangas market. June 7, 1908. Length 165 mm. 



5513. Catbalogan. April 15, 1908. Length 295 mm. 



18826, 18830. Cebu market. March 27, 1909. Length 88 to 168 mm. 



5416. Cebu market. April 7, 1908. Length 385 mm. 



14179 to 14181. Cebu market. July 2, 1909. Length 111 to 140 mm. 



18806. Cebu market. August 21, 1909. Length 125 mm. 



12880. Cotabato. May 20, 1909. Length 178 mm. 



7483, 7494, 7495. Endeavor Strait, near anchorage, Palawan. Length 302 to 

 383 mm. 



7545. Endeavor Strait. December 23, 1908. Length 372 mm. 



4938 to 4940 [822]. Iloilo market. March 29, 1908. Length 60 to 100 mm. 

 Sides of body with alternating stripes of pearl blue and seal brown ; first 

 of pearl blue short bar at bases of first to fourth dorsal spines narrow ; buff 

 yellow stripe narrower than orbit from cheek to caudal, becomes dusky on 

 under surface of head ; dorsals black, with curved white band from fifth 

 dorsal spine to tip of eighteenth soft ray ; twentieth to twenty-first raj's white ; 

 caudal black, with two slightly oblique white stripes on upper half ; another 

 horizontal on lower half ; tip of small spines white, rest of spines and anterior 

 % of fin black, posterior third white ; ventral spine and first to third rays 

 black, posterior 2 rays white ; pectoral hyaline. Smaller specimen with 

 ground color almost black. Pearl blue stripes narrower and not so extended. 

 Cheeks, lower side of head, breast and belly sulphur yellow. White of fins 

 tinged with yellow. 



5171. Jolo market. March 6, 1908. Length 250 mm. 



5877. Malabang market, Mindanao. May 22, 1908. Length 610 mm. 



7725. Manila market. March 20, 1908. Length 257 mm. 



9708. Manila market. April 28, 1908. Length 184 mm. 



9037 to 9039. Nabatas Point. July 24, 1909. Length 221 to 345 mm. 



5482. San Juanico Strait. April 13, 1908. Length 239 mm. 



6917. Santo Domingo, Batan. November 7, 1908. Length 583 mm. 



A642 to A644. Simaluc Sibi Sibi Island. September 23, 1909. Length 381 to 

 463 mm. 



5940. Zamboanga market. May 26, 1908. Length 314 mm. 



A686. Danawan Island, Borneo. September 26, 1909. Length 475 mm. 

 Ground color of head and body slaty gray, over this reddish bronzy wash, 



