162 PEECIDiE. 



The ventmlis is small, and supported by a spine hall' the length of 

 the fin. 



There are no prominent canine teeth, but there is a series of large 

 teeth in each jaw in front and on the side. 



The ground-colour in the dried specimens is brownish — perhaps 

 brownish red in life ; the head and body are covered all over with 

 round blackish spots with a bluish centre, each covering about six 

 scales. All the fins appear now of a uniform blackish-bro^vn colour, 

 but there seem to have been similar spots on the pectoral. 



Length of the largest specimen 16 inches. 



11. Plectropoma cinctum. (Plate XIII. fig. A.) 



D. i^. A. |. L. lat. 100. 



The height of the body is 3^ in the total length, and the length 

 of the head is one-third of the latter. Prseoperculum strongly 

 serrated, with three large spinous teeth at the lower limb, the an- 

 terior of which is the sti-ongest. Caudalis rather rounded. Reddish 

 brown, -ndth six dark-brown cross-bands encircling the body and 

 tail ; sides of the head with two bands of the same coloiu- from the 

 eye to the opercles ; fins black, and whitish-edged. 



a. Fine specimen. Norfolk Islands. From the Haslar Collection. 



Description. — The form of the body is oblong, similar to that of 

 the Perch ; its height is comprised 31 in the total length. The 

 head is rather elongate, its length being one-thii'd of the total. 

 The snout is elongate, us in Mesoprion, twice the diameter of the 

 eye ; the upper surface of the head narrow, the distance between 

 the eyes smaller than their diameter ; the scales extend only to the 

 nostrils, — the whole snout, pra^orbital, and upper maxillary bone being 

 naked. The eye is rather small, only one-sixth of the length of the 

 head ; the nostrils, separated into a smaller round posterior open- 

 ing and into an oval antei'ior one, are situated in front of the upper 

 angle of the eye. The pra?orbital is broad, even broader than the 

 hinder end of the maxillary bone, which reaches to below the centre 

 of the eye. The prasoperculum is provided with rather strong and 

 distant denticulations. increasing in size towards the angle, and with 

 thi'ee very strong spinous teeth at the lower limb, the anterior of 

 which is the strongest ; the angle of the proeoperculum is rounded ; 

 the sub- and interopercuhmi are entire. The operculum has three 

 spines, the upper of which is very remote from the others ; the 

 middle is the longest, projecting immediately above the lower one. 

 Suprascapula conspicuously crenulated. 



The spinous portion of the dorsalis is much lower and longer than 

 the soft. The spines ai'e strong : the second one-thii'd longer than 

 the first, the third one-third longer than the second ; the fifth to 

 the eighth longest, the ninth to the foiu-teenth gradually becoming- 

 shorter ; finally, the fifteenth a little longer than the preceding, and 

 apparently belonging to the soft portion ; this portion is nearly 



