500 Capt. Carmiciiael's Description of 



Description of Four Species of Fish found on the Coast of Trista}} 



da Cunha. 



1. Cn;ETonoN monodactylus, subolivaceus dorso transversim 

 nigro fasciato, spinis dorsalibus 17; ventralibus 6: intima 

 elongata. 



Tab. XXIV. 



Length eighteen inches. Body oval, compressed. Head sharp; 

 front sloping; mouth small, retractile; lips fleshy; jaws equal ; 

 teeth subulate, crowded in the fore part of the jaws, diminish- 

 ing to a single row behind. E3'es large; iris amber-coloured. 

 G. plates scaly; membrane six-rayed. Dorsal fin 17-24, soft 

 part fleshy and scaly at the base. Pectoral fan-shaped, fifteen- 

 rayed ; six lower rays simple, the rest bifid ; the sixth ray from 

 the bottom twice the length of the others. Ventral 1-5, triangu- 

 lar considerably behind the line of the pectoral fin. Anal fin 

 fleshy, and scaly at the base, 3-12, the second ray very strong. 

 Tail forked. Scales large, smooth. L. line parallel with the 

 back. Colour varying from olive to bronze, with six broad, ob- 

 scurely-marked black bars across the back, reaching half-way 

 down the sides. Fins blackish ; pectoral amber-coloured, ex- 

 tremely delicate. 



This fish is ver}' common on the coast of Tristan da Cunha, and 

 feeds on the leaves of the Fucus pijriferus, such of them especially 

 as are covered with serpulae. It takes the hook freely. 



I have called this fish Chcetodon, as coming nearer to that genus 

 than to any other that I am acquainted with. Among Forster's 

 drawings in the collection of Sir Joseph Banks, a figure of it is 

 given under the name of Sparus Carponet?ius ; but the form and 

 disposition of the teeth exclude it from that genus. The specific 

 name was suggested by the uncommon form and length of the 



fifth 



