1. CHiEirs. 91 



me to be the characters by which, for the present, they may be sepa- 

 rated from the 8corj)anina, — provided that the same characters be 

 found in the other species, as is most likely the case. 



1. CHIRUS. 



Chirus et Hexagrammus, Steller. 



Labrax, Pall. Mem. Acad. Petersh. ii. p. 382. 



Chiropsis, Girard, Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. 1857, p. 201. 



Head and body more or less compressed, elongate, covered with 

 very small scales ; several muciferous channels besides, and similar to, 

 the usual lateral hne. Bones of the head not, or very sKghtly armed. 

 One dorsal, elongate, with twenty to thirty spines ; anal elongate. 

 Ventral with one spine and five rays. Small teeth in the jaws and 

 on the vomer, and sometimes on the palatine bones. Branchiostegals 

 six or seven. Pyloric appendages in increased number. 



A genus from the North Pacific, of which we know little more 

 than that it comprises a considerable number of species, only one of 

 which is completely described. 



1. Chirus hexagrammus. 



Hexagrammus asper, (Steller) Tiles. Act. Acad. Petrop. ii. p. 340. 



steUeri, Tiles, ibid. p. 335. tab. 15. 



Labrax hexagrammus, Pall. ibid. p. 39S. tab. 23. f. 3, and Zoogr. JRosso- 



Asiat. iii. p. 275 ; Faun. Jupnn. Poiss. p. 53. pi. 23. 

 Chirus hexagrammus, Cuv. Regne Anim. III. Potss. pi. 83. f. 2 ; Bleek. 



Verh. Bat. Gen. xxvi. Japan, p. 80 



B. 6. D. |Ei- ^- 20-22. L. lat. 105. Csec. pylor. 13. 



A skinny tentacle above each orbit. Palatine teeth none. Two 

 muciferous channels between the lateral line and the dorsal fin, one 

 along the base of the anal fin, and a short one above the ventral. 

 The length of the head is 4^ in the total ; the upper maxiUary reaches 

 to below the anterior third of the orbit. Scales ciliated. A slight 

 notch between the spinous and soft portions of the dorsal fill. 



Sea of Japan ; Gulf of Georgia. 



a, h. Adult : stufied. Japan. 



c. Fine specimen. Gulf of Georgia (New Orcas Islands), Presented 

 by the Lords of the Admiralty. — This specimen was received 

 during the printing of the present sheet. I found, on dissection, 

 that the stomach is a rounded, obtuse sac of moderate extent ; it 

 was filled with small Crustacea. There are thirteen pyloric 

 appendages, grouped in two clusters, of moderate length. The 

 intestine makes an anterior and posterior convolution, and its 

 length is three-quarters of that of the fish. The liver is large, 

 and the greater portion is situated on the left side of the stomach. 

 The ovaria are of moderate size, separated from each other, with 

 a common and wide oviduct. The eggs are small. Air-bladder 

 none ; four gUls, with a slit behind the fourth ; pseudobranchiae 

 well developed. 



