14 saUAMIPlNNES. 



former, touching the opercular margin and the root of the pectoral, 

 and proceeding to the upper part of the root of the caudal ; the 

 seventh, eighth and ninth also are curved, and radiate from the root 

 of the pectoral ; caudal with two narrow cross-stripes ; operculum 

 with a vertical white streak. 

 Molucca Sea. 



a. Adult. Celebes. Piirchased of Mr. Frank. 



b. Adult : skeleton. Amboyna. Purchased of Mr. Frank. 



c. Half-grown. Amboyna. Purchased of Mr. Frank. 



d. e. Adult. Java. Purchased of Mr. Jamrach. 

 /. Adult. Moluccas. 



g. Adult. Presented by G. Bennett, Esq. 



A. Adult. From the Collection of the Zoological Society. 



Skeleton. — The maxillary bone is very irregularly shaped ; two 

 portions can be distinguished in it, a superior and an inferior, sepa- 

 rated from each other by the narrower middle of the bone. The 

 upper portion has posteriorly a large condyle for the articulation 

 with the palatine ; the lower portion is of less extent than the upper 

 one, and not quite so broad. A long and slender process, directed 

 forwards, extends from the palatine bone across the centre of the 

 maxillary, forming a notch in the praeorbital. The anterior portion 

 of the intermaxillary, in which the teeth are implanted, is swollen ; 

 the posterior process is much longer than the descending branch. 

 The mandibula appears to be composed of two bones only, the den- 

 tary and the articular, one situated before the other ; the former 

 presents a very singular aspect : it is excavated anteriorly, and holds 

 the hair-Uke teeth, like the qmll of a camel-hair brush. The articular 

 bone is triangular, and forms the posterior part of the mandibula. 



The upper portion of the skull appears as a solid, elevated, rounded, 

 smooth bony mass, with some pores above the posterior part of the 

 orbit. Sutures are visible between the principal frontal bones, the 

 supraoccipital, the parietals, and the suprascapulae. The supra- 

 occipital is continued posteriorly in an elevated and strong crest, 

 which has the upper margin swollen, and is posterioi-ly bifurcate to 

 receive the first intemeurals. The anterior frontal bones are scarcely 

 to be distinguished from the principal frontals ; the orbital margin 

 is very slightly serrated. 



The tiirbinal bones are well developed. It is a peculiarity of the ske- 

 leton of Choetodon and the genera allied to it, that the posterior portion 

 of the infraorbital ring is firmly united with the interior ridge of 1 he 

 praeoperculum. This portion is composed of three nan-ow bones in the 

 present species, and is as long as the anterior part of the ring, which is 

 formed by two quadrangular bones only, the praeorbital included. The 

 outer surface of these bones is rough and porous. The prajoperculum 

 is smooth, with the muciferous channel merely radicated, and \\dth the 

 interior ridge not elevated ; the inferior hmb is one-half the length of 

 the posterior, and has the margin finely serrated. The operculum has 

 neither ridge nor spine, is subquadrangular, 2| as high as wide ; the 

 posterior side is subvertical. The sub- and intcropcrculum are very 



