436 .sPAiuDj;. 



dift'ers in thu number of the fins, that I considered it as the type of 

 a new species for a long while, to which I intended to give the name 

 oi S((iyi<^ auricularis ; but having this single specimen only, 1 pre- 

 fer to give a fiill dcscrijjtion of it, as after all it may prove to be 

 merely an accidental variety. 



q. Adult. From the Haslar Collection. 



D. i2. A. ^. L. lat. 56. L. transv. 6/14. 



Description of the sjieciynen. — The body is rather elevated, its 

 greatest depth, below the fifth dorsal spine, being 2^ in the total 

 length. The profile of the nape forms a not very strong curve, and 

 is continued into that of the head, which descends to the snout in a 

 straight lino ; the distance between the occiput and the end of the 

 snout e(juals that between the occiput and the origin of the dorsal 

 fin. The head is compressed, and forms one-fourth of the total length ; 

 the distance between the eyes is one-third of the length of the head. 

 The snout is rather pointed and of moderate length, the upper 

 maxillaiy reaching nearly to the vertical from the anterior margin of 

 the orbit. The prscorbital is 1 1 as long as high, and covers entirely 

 the maxUlary bone. The eye is of moderate size, and situated 

 much nearer to the upper vertical than to the inferior limb of the 

 pra^operculum. The nostrils are placed near the upper angle of the 

 orbit ; the posterior is an elongate sHt, the anterior is round. There 

 are four series of scales between the priEorbital and the limb of the 

 pra3operculum, which also is partly covered with a single series of 

 deciduous scales. The posterior margin of the prasopcrculum descends 

 forwards in a straight and slightly oblique line ; the angle is rounded ; 

 the inferior margin straight and oblique. The operculum has no 

 ^distinct spine, and is covered with scales, like the sub- and inter- 

 operculum. The supraseapula is scale-Ukc, without striae or don- 

 ticulations ; but there is a curved scries of scales, ascending from the 

 supraseapula to the nape, which exhibit very distinct stria). 



The dorsal fin begins above the root of the ventrals and extends 

 to the vertical from the forty-first scale of the lateral line, its 

 distance from the caudal fin being 2| in the length of the head. The 

 spines are rather strong, compressed, and broader on one side ; the 

 first is one-half the length of the second ; the fourth, fifth, and sixth 

 are longest, and 2| in the length of the head ; the following gradually 

 decrease in length to the last, which is 3|^ in the length of the head. 

 The soft rays are nearly equal in length to one another and to the 

 last spine. The caudal fin is forked, one of the middle rays being 

 nearly one- third the length of the upper lobe, which is rather longer 

 -than the lower. The origin of the a)uil fin falls vertically below the 

 end of the spinous dorsal, and its end immediately behind that of the 

 soft dorsal ; it is rather higher than the opposite fin, the posterior 

 rays, however, gradually becoming shorter. The spines an; rather 

 stout ; the fust is two-fifths the length of the second, the second 

 slightly exc(!cds the third, and is one-third of the length of the head. 

 The aixth 2i<.'ctoral ray is longest, reaching to the origin of the soft 



