238 SCLERODERMI. 



between the dorsal fins is concave, the commencement of the soft 

 dorsal being the highest point. Snout pointed, with the upper pro- 

 file concave. Dorsal spine strong, not much shorter than the head, 

 armed behind with a double series of barbs, inserted above the poste- 

 rior part of the eye. Gill-opening and pectoral fin below the orbit. 

 Caudal fin rounded, dorsal and anal low. Ventral spbie moveable, 

 tapering, rough, very small, brownish, marbled with darker. 

 West Indies ; Central-American coasts. 



a. Three inches long. Puerto Cabello. Purchased of Hr. Brandt. 

 h. Skin, 2| inches long. Purchased of Mr. YarreU. 



b. Ventral spine present, moveable ; the cutaneous ventral expansion mode- 



rately developed, not extending beyond the spine. 



12. Monacanthus tomentosus. 



Balistes, sp., Gronov. Mus. Iclith. i. p. 63. no. 114, or Zoophxjl. no. 191, 



tab. 6. tig. 5 ; Seba, iii. tab. 24. tig. 18. 

 Balistes tomentosus, L. Syst. Nat. i. p. 40-5 ; Gronov. Syst. ed. Gray, 



p. 34. 

 Baliste velu, Lacqh i. pp. 333, 359. 



Monacanthus tomentosus, Ciiv. Reqne An. ; Bleek. Verh. Bat. Gen. 

 xxiv. Balist. p. 19, and Atl. Ichtli v. p. 127, pi. 220. fig. 1, pi. 229. 

 fig. 1. 



hajam, Bleek. I. c. V>, p. 18, tab. 1. fig. 1, and /. c. 2«, p. 126, 



pi. 230. tigs. 1 & 3. 



trichurus, Bleek. Nat. Tyds. Ned. Ind. iv. p. 125. 



— • — helleri, Steindachner, Sitzqsher. Ak. Wiss. Wieii, 1867, iv. p. 712, 

 taf. 3. fig. 3. 



D. 27-29. A. 25-27. 

 Scales exceedingl}' small, each with four or five spines on the 

 margin ; on each side of the tail an oblong patch of short setiform 

 spines, well developed in adult males, but very small or entirely 

 absent in females and young. Body sometimes with scattered short 

 filaments. Body elevated, its depth being one-half or two-thirds of 

 the total length {A\athout caudal). Snout pointed, with the upper 

 profile concave. Dorsal spine very strong, about as long as the head, 

 armed behind with a double series of strong recurved spines, situated 

 above the eye, nearer to its posterior than to its anterior margin. 

 Caudal fin rounded. Ventral spine moveable, armed with curved 

 spinelets on the side, separated from the ventral rays. Dorsal and 

 anal fins low. Brown, marbled with blackish ; an indistinct whitish 

 longitudinal baud on the side of the trunk, behind the gill-opening. 

 Caudal with two blackish cross bands. 



East-Indian archipelago ; China ; Australia. 



a. Adult (5 inches long). East-Indian archipelago. From Dr. 



Bleeker's Collection. — Type of 31. hajam. 



b. Adult. East-Indian archipelago. From Dr. Bleeker's Collection, 



as M. tomentosus. 



c. Adult. East-Indian archipelago. From Dr. Bleeker's Collection. 



— Type of M. trichurus. 



