9. CHCEROPS. 97 



none. Head obtuse, as high as long ; praeorbital very high ; scales 

 on the cheek not imbricate. Back crossed by three or four dark 

 bands separated by shining silvery interspaces ; dorsal and anal fins 

 with yellow longitudinal lines ; caudal greyish, with small round 

 transparent spots and with an intramarginal line ; pectoral with a 

 blackish upper margin. Cheeks with ii'regiilar bluish lines. The 

 dark cross-bands are sometimes indistinct. 

 Coasts of Australia. 



a. Twenty-sLx inches long : stuffed. Harvey River, West Australia. 

 (Freshwater.) Purchased of Mr. Goijld. 



h. Twenty-six inches long : stuffed. Houtmans Abrolhos. Pur- 

 chased of Mr. Gould. 



c. One foot long : stuffed. Port Essington. Presented by the Earl 



of Derby. 



d. Adult : skin. Port Essington. From Mr. Gilbert's Collection. — 



Type of the species. 



e. Half-grown : stuffed. Victoria. From the Voyage of H.M.S. 



Herald. 

 /. Half- grown : skin. Bramble Island, Endeavour Straits. 

 g. Adult : stuffed. Cape York, in 62 fathoms, with hook and line. 



Voyage of the ' Rattlesnake.' 



8. Chcerops mbescens. 



D. ■^. A. ^. L. lat. 30. L. transv. 4/12. 



No posterior canine tooth. Serrature of the praeoperculum very 

 distinct. Uniform reddish. 

 West coast of Australia. 



a. &sm. Houtmans Abrolhos. ' Rockfish ' of the Colonists. 



Description. — The form is the same as in all the fishes of this 

 generic group. The height of the body is contained thrice and tAvo- 

 fifths in the total length, the length of the head thrice and three- 

 fifths. The head is obtuse, nearly as high as long ; proeorbital very 

 high ; scales on the cheek small, not imbricate ; eye rather small, 

 situated near the upper profile. There are four anterior canine 

 teeth in each of the jaws, the iniddle of which are yery strong ; tho 

 two lower middle ones are received between the two upper middle 

 ones. No other teeth are visible in the upper jaw,' where they are 

 replaced by very indistinct granulations of the bone, which is not 

 covered by mucous membrane, feie lower lateral teeth are small, 

 and united into a low ridge. Scales on the operculum smaller than 

 those on the body ; the muciferous channel of the lateral line 

 branches off into numerous short tubes on each of the scales. The 

 scales which cover the base of the caudal are the largest, triangular, 

 forming a sort of sheath for the fin. The last dorsal spine is not 

 much longer than the anterior ones, two-seVenths of the length of the 

 head ; the third anal spine is somewhat shorter and stronger than 

 the last of the dorsal fin. The ground-colour appears to have been 

 reddish, without any other markings, 



VOL. IV. H 



