194 PF,KCID.E. 



Sir John Richardson mentions a di-ied specimen of this fish, in the 

 Collection of the British Museum, i)rocured by 'Mr. Gilbert at Port 

 Essington (No. 21), and he describes it under the name of M. yapiUi, 

 in the Ann. 4- Maij. Nat. Hist. 1842, p. 2G. I am not able to find 

 this fish in the Collection. 



14. Mesoprion cynodon. 



Caballerote, Jocu, Parra, pi. 25. f. 1,2. 

 Anthia.s caballerote, Bl. Schu. p. 310. 



jocu, £1. Si-/ui. p. olO. 



Mesoprion cynodon, Cut: Sf 'Val. ii. p. 465. 



analis, Cav. Sf Val. ii. p. 452 (not Castelnau, Anim. nouv. ou 



rares de VAmer. du Sud, Poiss. p. 4). 

 litura, Cuv. ^ Val. ii. p. 407. 



D. ij. A. |. L. lat. 43-46. L. transv. 9/16. 



The height of the body is 3 to 3^ in the total length, the length 

 of the head 3|- ; the diameter of the eye is 41 in the latter, and 1 f in 

 the length of the snout ; jaws equal in front. Prteopercidum with 

 a distinct notch, but the knob of the interopcrculum .vei-y inconspi- 

 cuous ; suprascai>ula serrated. Caudalis slightly emarginate ; pec- 

 torals scarcely reaching to the origin of the anal ; the fourth dorsal 

 spine longest. Olive (in spirits), each scale with a darker base ; a 

 bluish-white, darker-edged streak from the pra^orbital below the eye 

 across the opercles. Canines large. 



Atlantic Coasts of Tropical America. 



n. Adult. South America. Presented by Sir R. Schomburgk. 

 b, c. Adult: not good state. South America. Purchased of Mr. 

 Brandt. 



d. Half-grown : vci'y bad .state. West Inches. 



e. Adidt,: skin. Jamaica. From Dr. Parnell's Collection. 

 /. Adult. From the Haslar Collection. 



g. Young. St. Domingo. Purchased of Mr. Cuming. 



This species may be readily distinguished from the following by 

 its smaller scales ; there arc nine or even ten longitudinal series of 

 scales between the lateral line and the dorsal tin, wliilst M. grisens 

 has six or seven only. The other characters are less conspicuous in 

 young and half-grown individuals, — viz., the greater height of the 

 body in M. ajnodun, and the greater length of the snout in M. griseus. 

 From Cu\-ier's description alone it woidd be impossible to determine 

 the species, as the greater part of the species of Mfsoprion, as in 

 many other genera, are either insufficiently described, or form no- 

 minal species only, founded on the most tiivial characters. 



1"). Mesoprion griseus. 



Mesoprion p-riseus, Cuv. Sf Val. ii. p. 409; ? Giuchcn. in Ramon de la 



Sar/i(i, Ili.'it. C'nlia, Poiss. p. 2(5.' 

 flnvoscoiis, Cnr. ^- J'l/l. ii. p. 472. 



