138 Stover's Synopsis of the Fishes of North America. 



GENUS VII. MALACANTHUS, Cuv. 



Body elongated, but little compressed ; scales small ; the anal almost as 

 long as the dorsal ; the other fins moderate ; head oblong ; the forehead 

 slightly convex ; eyes moderate, and situated far back ; the mouth quite 

 cloven ; lips fleshy. In each jaw a single row of teeth, among which some 

 are stout and curved ; pharyngeal teeth like those of a card ; a strong spine 

 at the angle of the operculum. 



I. Malacanthus Plumieri, Cuv. 



Variegated with yellow and lilac, or bluish. Before the eyes and upon the temple, the 

 yellow and lilac are disposed in longitudinal lines. Yellow marblings upon a lilac ground on 

 the operculum- The dorsal is of a reddish lilac, with three longitudinal series of yellow 

 spots. Caudal yellow, its posterior edge bluish and transparent, and tinged with blue at 

 its upper and lower edges. The upper and lower rays of the caudal elongated into slender 

 points, as long again as the rest of the fin. Six strong, pointed teeth in the front of the upper 

 jaw, with two small intermediate ones ; behind these, on each side, a row of fifteen small, con- 

 ical, and pointed ones, and at the angle a stout one directed slightly forwards. In the lower 

 jaw, in front, six and two small ones ; and then, on each side, five curved, pointed, compressed, 

 increasing to the fifth ; the sixth is one half as large, and after it are ten or twelve, very fine, 

 and a stouter one at the angle, slightly directed forwards, less than the corresponding one in 

 the upper jaw. 



D.G-55. P. 16. V. 1-5. A. 1-50. C. 17. Length, 15 to 18 inches. 



Gulf of Mexico, Parra. Caribbean Sea, Cuv. 



Matajuelo bianco. Parka, p. 22 pi. 13, fig. 1. 

 Coryphana Plumieri, Lin., Syst Nat., Gmel., p. 1191. 



" " Bloch, 175? 



" " Plumier's Curypliene, Shaw's Gen. Zool., rv. p. 215. 



Malacaiilhus Plumieri, Griffith's Cuv., x. p. 263. 

 I.e Malacanthe de Plumier (Malacanthua Plumieri, Cuv., Spams oblongus, Ei. , Schn.}, Cuv. et Val., xm. 



p. 319, pi. 380. 



GEiNUS VIII. JULIS, Cuv. 



Head smooth ; cheeks and gill-covers without scales ; the lateral line bent 

 suddenly downwards when opposite the end of the dorsal fin ; in other re- 

 spects the generic characters are similar to those of the genus Labrus. 



1. Julis psittaculus, Cuv. 



Brown, more or less red upon the back, lighter beneath ; two longitudinal, parallel violet or 

 lilac bands upon the sides. The upper band arises at the angle of the operculum ; the lower 



