308 prlstipomatidyE. 



The colour is now entirelj- uniform, each scale having a dai'ker 

 margin. 



inches, lines. 



Total length 14 



Height of the body 4 1 



Length of the head 4 



of the diameter of the eye 7^ 



of the fourth dorsal spine 1 7^ 



of the eleventh dorsal spine .... 9 



of the seventh dorsal ray 12 



of the second anal spine 1 1| 



4. Haemulon macrostoma. (Pl.\te XVIII.) 

 D. 11 I ^. A. |. L. lat. 55-58. L. transv, 10/17. 



The height of the body equals the length of the head, and is 3-i 

 in the total. The snout is elongate and compressed, and rather more 

 than twice the diameter of the eye, which is 51 in the length of the 

 head. The cleft of the mouth is very wide, the upper maxillary 

 nearly reaching to the vertical from the anterior margin of the eye. 

 Praeoperculum with the posterior limb nearly vertical, and with 

 obtuse denticiilations, which become stronger at the angle, but dis- 

 appear with age. Dorsal fin deeply notched, with strong spines, the 

 fourth being the longest, 21 in the length of the head, and the last 

 being considerably longer than the eleventh. CaudaHs forked ; the 

 second anal spine very strong, scarcely longer than the following, 

 and equal in length to the sixth of the dorsal. The length of the 

 pectoral is 4f in the total. Five blackish (in a dried state) longi- 

 tudinal bands, one being very distinct from the eye to the caudal fin, 

 the others more or less indistinct and interrupted. 



Jamaica. 

 a-c. Adult and half-grown : skins. Jamaica. From Dr. Pamell's 

 Collection. 



Description. — This fish belongs to the group with the cleft of the 

 mouth wide, and with the vertical fins thickly enveloped by scales, 

 and is closely allied to H. elegans, canna, &c. The body is rather 

 elevated, its greatest depth being below the origin of the dorsal fin, 

 and contained 3-1- in the total length. The length of the head is 

 equal to that height. The mouth is nearlj' horizontal. The max- 

 illary and intermaxillary may be nearly entirely concealed below the 

 prseorbital, the greatest ■width of which is one-half more than that 

 of the orbit ; it is covered with scales, like the cheeks and the 

 praeoperculum. The S2)ace between the eyes is convex, larger than 

 the width of the orbit, and scaly nearly to the nostrils, which are 

 situated immediately before the eyes. The eye is nearer the poste- 

 rior margin of the operculum than the end of the snout. The 

 suprascapula is scarcely to be distinguished from the scales ; it is in- 

 conspicuously serrated. 



The dorsal fin begins above the base of the pectoral and terminates 



