26. SERRANUS. 147 



are thick, the first not half the length of the second, and both the 

 others are nearly equal in length. The pectoralis is rounded, com- 

 posed of from eighteen to nineteen rays, and extends as far backwards 

 as the ventral— that is, not entirely to the vent. The spine of the 

 ventrahs reaches l)eyoud the half of the length of the fin. The ca- 

 nines are strong, and there are no large lateral teeth. 



The specimen is i-ather discoloured, and the body appears now to 



be of a uniform brownish colour. The soft part of the dorsal the 



» caudal, and the pectoral fins are of a yeUowish-white colour. I cannot 



decide whether this is natural, or merely the eftcct of having been 



exposed to the light. 



Length of the specimen 10". 



108. Serranus ura. 



? Sen-aims ura, Cut: ^ Val. ii. p. 332, 



^ ara, Faun. Japon. p. 9. 



? ura, Richardson, Ann. §- Mar/. Nat. Ilkt. 1842 ix p '>4 



Caudahs rounded ; pectoralis far distant from the anal fin The 

 length of the head is 31 in the total, the diameter of the eye about 

 one-fifth of the length of the head. Pra^operculum equally and veiT 

 fmelyseiTated; the third and foui-th dorsal spines longest, one- third 

 ot the length of the head; the tliii-d spine of the anal fin lono-er 

 and more slender than the second. Dried specimen greyish brown • 

 brown-spotted aU over, the spots of moderate size, each covering 

 about four scales. 



ff. Large specimen : stuff-ed. St. Helena. From General Hardwickc's 

 Collection. 



Valenciennes' description contains so few precise characters, that 

 It IS impossible, -ttithout dii-ect comparison of the specimens, to decide 

 whether that m the British Museum CoUection really belongs to the 

 above species; it agrees with his description of ura, but so also 

 do many other species. Moreover, Valenciennes' specimen is said to 

 be from Japan, whilst the other is from the Atlantic; but there mav 

 be a mistake in one or the other. Therefore I refer our fish for the 

 present to S. ura, not being inchned to found a new species upon a 

 smgle stufted specimen. 



109. Serranus melanurus. 



Bodianus melanurus, Geoffr. Bescr. Eg. pi. 21. f. 1 ; Is. Geofr. Poiss 

 a±.i/. p. 205. "^ 



Caudahs tnmcated. Pra?opercuhim with three or four strono- spi- 

 nous teeth at the angle; sub- and interoperculum rather ^U^mUx 

 denticulated. Coloration uniform ; the soft part of the dorsalis The 

 caudal and anal fins with feriuginous spots. 



Suez. 



l2 



