26. SEKRANUS. 221 



The upper maxillary bone without process and with nearly straight- 

 lined margins. Operculum with three veiy acute prominent spines 

 the upper two of which are longest, and much more distant from one 

 another than the middle from the lower ; the prsoperculum rounded 

 throughout, with very fine and equal dentieulations at the posterior 

 hmb ; sub- and mteroperculum entire. The dentition is the same 

 as m S. coronatiis, but the posterior front teeth of the upper law 

 are not quite so long as in that species. There are ten abdominal 

 and fourteen caudal vertebra?. The first interha^mal spine is equal 

 to the length of the second to the seventh vertebra, and attached 

 to the haemal of the first caudal vertebra. 



Castelnau {Ic. pi. 1. f. 3) gives a tolerably good figure of a fish 

 named Serrmtus ouataliU, but certainly different from it. The figure 

 being unaccompanied by a proper description, we are unable to de- 

 termine the species from it alone. 



47. Serranus taeniops. 

 Seba, iii. 27. 6. 

 Sen-anus taniops, Cuv. ff Val. ii. p. ,370. 



^- Tl- ^^- ^- Caec. pylor. 7. Vert. 10/14. 



Caudalis rounded. The height of the body is one-fourth of the 

 total length ; the length of the head is 3^ in the same length : the 

 diameter of the eye nearly one-sixth of the length of the head • the 

 upper maxiUary bone reaching behind the level of the posterior 

 margin of the eye. Denticulations of the prajoperculum conspicuous. 

 Ked (m life) ; head, body, and fins with numerous smaU, round blue 

 black-edged spots; between eye and muzzle two dark-blue streaks ■' 

 fans blue-edged. 



Atlantic, between Africa and Tropical America. 



a. Adult. St Vincent's. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. 



6. Adult. Atlantic. From the Ha^lar CoUection. 



c. Adult. Atlantic. From the Haslar Collection 



d. Adult. Atlantic. From the Haslar CoUection 



e Adult : male : skeleton. Atlantic. From the Haslar CoUection. 

 /. Adult, b. Africa. From Mr. Stevens's CoUection. 



SMeton.—T\ie paroceipital and parietal bones form together a 

 shght convexity, whUst the space between the orbital margins is 

 rather concave ; the ridges arc slightly developed ; the posterior part 

 of the occipital crest is oblong, quadrangular, higher than long, and 

 emits a low longitudinal branch along the medial Une of the upper 

 part of the supraoccipital bone, but which does not extend on the 

 trontals. The suprascapula is e^-idently separated into two bones— 

 an mtenor, which articidates Math the exoccipital; and an outer one 

 articidating with the mastoid bone; from both articidations rim 

 paraUel longitudinal ndges to the oriut ; the interior one is verv 

 inconspicuous in this species, but is strongly developed in S. vndu- 

 losus ■ the extenor ridge is not high, but very strong. The max- 



