210 PEECIDiE. 



length of the head ; the upper profile of the hfSad is straight, ob- 

 liquely descending, the lower nearly horizontal. Praeoperculum 

 serrated, not notched ; interopcrculum with a protuberance. Cau- 

 dalis notched ; pectorals not reaching to the anal fin. Yellowish 

 olive, with about fourteen blue longitudinal streaks; three blue 

 streaks on the cheeks, and a white one on the suborbital ; a black 

 lateral blotch. 

 Caribbean Sea. 



a. Half-groAvn. "West Indies. 



b. Half-groAvn. West Indies. 



c. Half-grown. West Indies. 

 d-f. Young. West Indies. 



43. Mesoprion decussatus. 



Cuv. ^ Val. ii. p. 487 ; Blecker, Perc. p. 4S. 



D. {^. A. |. L. lat. 55. 



The height of the body is 3| in the total length, the length of the 

 head 3g ; the diameter of the eye is 4^ in the latter. Jaws equal 

 in front, the upper maxillary bone reaching to below the anterior 

 half of the eye. The notch and the knob of the opercles indistinct. 

 Caudalis slightly emarginate ; pectoral just reaching to the front 

 end of the anal ; the third to sixth dorsal spines longest ; the second 

 and third of the anal fin nearly equal. Silvery white (in spirits), 

 with five straight brown longitudinal bands, the three upper of 

 which are crossed by six or seven vertical ones. 



Sea of Java ; Philippines. 



a. Adult, Philippines, 



b. Adult. India, 



c. 3|" long, Amboyna, From Mr, Frank's Collection as Mesoprion 



chrysotsenia. Young (?) ; with a large lateral blotch, 



II, Species with anomalously armed praeoperculum, 



44. Mesoprion retrospinis. 

 Cuv. ^ Vol. vi. p. 541. 



D-i?- A.i 



The length of the head is 3| in the total ; the diameter of the eye 

 one-seventh of the length of the head, Praeoperculum without 

 notch, and -svith four or five rather strong teeth beneath ; inter- 

 operculum without knob. Caudalis trx'ncated. Unifonn yellowish 

 olive, (Val.) 



West Indies, 



45. Mesoprion pomacanthua. 



BhekiT, Amhoina, vi. p. 407. 



D. 1^. A. |. L. lat. 50. 

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



