22. cHEiLiNrs. 125 



1. Doratonotns megalepis. 



D. ^. A. |. L. lat. 19. L. transv. 2/5. 



Ventral fins united at the base ; caudal rounded. 

 Caribbean Sea. 



rt. Twenty-eight lines long. St. Christopher. Presented by Dr. J. E. 

 Gray. 



Description. — Although the single specimen is not in so good a 

 state of preservation as to admit of a complete description of the 

 species, its principal characters are so well marked that we cannot 

 hesitate to consider it as the type of a distinct genus. The body is 

 strongl}' compressed, its height being equal to the length of the head, 

 and contained thrice and three-fourths in the total. The upper 

 profile of the head descends in a nearly straight lino. The snout is 

 pointed, much longer than the eye, the diameter of which is one- 

 fifth of the length of the head. The maxillary can be entirely hidden 

 below the prtieorbital, and does not extend backwards to the anterior 

 margin of the eye. Teeth conical, in a single series ; each jaw with 

 two canines in front, the lower received between the upper ; the 

 teeth standing next to the canines are somewhat larger than the 

 rest ; cheeks and opercles appear to have been scaly, but the scales 

 are nibbed ofi". The first two dorsal spines are half as long as the 

 head, whilst the following decrease in length to the ninth, which, 

 again, is nearly as long as the second ; the soft portion is somewhat 

 higher than the spinous ; the base of the dorsal fin is not scaly, but 

 the scales of the uppermost series form a sort of sheath for the fin. 

 The anal spines are rather strong and pungent, like those of the 

 dorsal. Caudal rounded, not quite so long as the head. Pectoral 

 rounded, two-thirds of the length of the head. Ycntrals close toge- 

 ther, united at the base by a membrane, situated somewhat in front 

 of the pectoral, composed of a pungent spine and five soft rays. GiU- 

 membranes united below, and not attached to, the isthmus. Lateral 

 line interrupted below the end of the dorsal. 



22. CHEILINTJS*. 



Clieilinus, (Lacep.) Cuv. IHgne Anim. 



Clieilinus, Oxycheilinus, et Crassilabrus, Gill, Proc. Acad. Nat. So. 

 Philad. 1862, p. 143. 



Body compressed, oblong, covered with large scales ; lateral line 

 interrupted ; cheeks with two series of large scales ; praeoperculum 

 entire ; teeth in a single series, two canines in each of the jaws, none 



* 1. Cheilinus rivulatus, Chiv. Sf Vol. xiv. p. 86. — New Ireland, Vanicolo. 



2. Tenosu?, Cuv. Sf Val. xiv. p. 100.— R<>(1 Sea. 



3. mertensii, Cuv. 8f Val. xiv. p. 102. — Guam. 



4. polygramma, Cuv. 8c Val. xiv. p. 103. — Ulea. 



5. macolosus, Cuv. Sf Val. xiv. p. 101. — Oualan. 



(i. ro9eu3, Cuv. 4" Val. xiv. p. 105.— Ulea. 



