14 BERYCID.E. 



vomerine teeth is triangular. The lower jaw is thickened and clumsy 

 at the tip, which projects considerahly beyond the upper, and is 

 received into its notch ; the lateral edge is slightly undiilating and 

 furnished Avith a series of small teeth, but the teeth on the anterior 

 ])roiiiinencc are, Like the upper ones, larger and conical. The max- 

 illanes are styliform at the interior extremity, but very broad at the 

 exterior ; they are smooth, and not denticulated ; the broad end is 

 overlapped by the supplementaiy bone, tapering behind and rough- 

 ened above. The gape is oblique, steejily ascending ; the maxillary 

 reaches, when the mouth is closed, rather behind the middle of the eye. 



The eye is surrounded by the infraorbital arch, which is trans- 

 formed into a channel, the outer side of which is covered above by a 

 narrow, bony, roughened streak, and beneath by a broad transparent 

 membrane ; the lower edge of the arch is slightly serrated. The 

 praeorbital has not the curved and prominent tooth which is to be 

 observed in B. decadactylus and splendetis ; but in this species such a 

 process arises from the maxillary, near its upper extremity, in front 

 of the eye. The turbinal bones are peculiarly shaped and have 

 curved edges ; they arc roughened in front and laterally denticulated, 

 and have a notch, to receive the curved process of the maxillary 

 bone. 



The interspace bctAveen the eyes becomes gradually narrower in 

 front, and is one-fourth of the lengtVi of the head. There may be 

 distinguished four very narrow bony ridges ; each of the two external 

 ones forms the superciliary ridge, terminates abruptly in an obtuse 

 extremity just above the nostrils, and is lost behind in the infra- 

 orbital arch. The two internal ridges arise from one point on the 

 same level with the front end of the two external ones, and on the 

 suture of the frontal bones ; they immediately diverge, receiving a i 

 arrow-shaped groove between, and ra(Uate near the nape into three 

 bony ridges, the irner of which is very short, but the two outer ones 

 extend nearly to the suprascapular. Between all these ridges are 

 cavities covered by a half-transparent membrane only. 



The operculum is more than twice as high as wide (the spine 

 included); it is covered with scales on its anterior half, the remainder 

 being striated ; the stria? terminate in marginal points, becoming 

 coarser towards the spines ; there is a slight notch above and beneath 

 the spines. The upper spine is rather stronger, and produces a 

 distinct transverse ridge an the opercle ; both the spines have a 

 parallel direction and are rather distant from one another. The 

 suboperculum has a concave posterior margin and has some spinous 

 teeth below. The mteropcrculum has a very deep notch near the 

 angle of pracoperciilum, and is not only serrated along its margin, but 

 has a roughened surface, sometimc's ^\^th projecting spines. The 

 prsioperculiim has two parallel margins with a channel between, 

 covered with a half-transparent membrane. Both the posterior 

 margins have an exceedingly fine serrature ; that of the inferior ones 

 is coarser. The margins meet at a right angle, slightly projecting, 

 and armed ^nth coarse spinous teeth. The cheek is scaly. The 

 suprascapular has a prominent spine, rather larger than those of the 



