26. SEERANUS. 147 



are thick, the first not half the length of the second, and both the 

 others are nearly equal in length. The pectondis is rounded, com- 

 posed of from eighteen to nineteen rays, and extends as far backward;; 

 as the ventral — that is, not entirely to the vent. The spine of the 

 ventralis reaches beyond the half of the length of the fin. The ca- 

 nines are strong, and there are no large lateral teeth. 



The specimen is rather discoloiu'ed, and the body appears now to 

 be of a uniform brownish colour. The soft part of the dorsal, tlie 

 caudal, and the pectoral fins are of a yeUo^vish- white colour. I cannot 

 decide whether this is natural, or merely the effect of having been 

 exposed to the light. 



Length of the specimen 10". 



108. Serranus ura. 



? Serranus ura, Cuv. 8f Val. ii. p. 332. 



■? ara, Faun. Japon. p. 9. 



? ura, Richardson, Ann. 8f Mag. Nat. Hist. 1842, ix. p. 24. 



Caudalis rounded ; pectoraKs far distant from the anal fin. The 

 length of the head is 3^ in the total, the diameter of the eye about 

 one-fifth of the length of the head. Prffioperculum equally and very 

 finely serrated ; the third and fourth dorsal spines longest, one- third 

 of the length of the head ; the third spine of the anal fin longer 

 and more slender than the second. Dried specimen gre3-ish brown ; 

 brown -spotted aR over, the spots of moderate size, each covering 

 about four scales. 



a. Large specimen : stuff'ed. St. Helena. From General Hardwicke's 



Collection. 



Valenciennes' description contains so few precise characters, that 

 if is impossible, withoiit direct comparison of the specimens, to decide 

 whether that in the British Museum Collection really belongs to the 

 above species ; it agrees with his description of ?<ra, but so also 

 do many other species^ Moreover, Valenciennes' specimen is said to 

 be from Japan, whilst the other is from the Atlantic ; but there niiiy 

 be a mistake in one or the other. Therefore I refer our fish for the 

 present to S. ura, not being inclined to found a new species upon a 

 single stufi'ed specimen. 



1 09. Serranus melanurus. 



Bodianus melanurus, Geoffr. Descr. Eg. pi. 21. f \; Is. Qeoffr^ Poiss. 

 dEg. p. 205. 



^•Tn- A- 1- 

 17 9 



Caudalis truncated. Praeoperculum with three or four strong spi- 

 nous teeth at the angle ; sub- and interoperculum rather strongly 

 denticulated. Coloration uniform ; the soft part of the doi'salis, the 

 caudal and anal fins with ferruginous spots. 



Suez. 



L 2 



