302 REPORT—1845. TTUOT GY wo 
cardiform ; those on the tongue are very strong. The ground colour of the back is a mottled 
mixture of greenish-gray and yellow, varied by fifteen or sixteen transverse bars composed of 
small spots of umber-brown. These bars are irregular on the top of the back, but they descend 
below the lateral line, and are there more distinct, from the intervening spaces being gam- 
boge-yellow. The belly is brightly silvery. The head is varied by many spots of umber-brown, 
the jaws being also much spotted. The caudal is pale orange-brown, with about nine trans- 
verse bars thickly spotted with umber. The other fins are more or less deeply yellowish-brown 
with five or six rows of darker spots on the rays, except the pectorals, which do not appear 
to be spotted. 
The Dentex nebulosus (Banks and Solander, Parkinson, Icon. 113. Bib. Banks), which 
frequents the seas of Otaheite, has considerable resemblance to this species. 
Hab. Seas of China and the Mauritius. 
SAURUS ARGYROPHANES, Richardson. Icon. Reeves, 6.15; Hardw. Malac. 
Chinese name, Kin lin chuy, “ Silk-scaled chuy” (Birch) ; Kin lin cheuy, 
“ Silver-scaled cheuy” (Reeves) ; Kam lun chui (Bridgem. Chrest. 165). 
Rad. 1D. 9* 3A. 'T1* ;'Vi9 (ex figura). Length of figure 10 inches. 
This, judging from the drawing, is a more elongated species than the preceding ones, the 
height of the body scarcely exceeding a seventh of the total length. The eye is moderately 
large, and is situated over the middle of the cleft of the mouth. The pectorals, which are not 
large, reach just to the front of the ventrals, and the dorsal commences over the axilla of the 
latter fins. The caudal is forked as in the preceding two species, without any middle lobe. 
The lateral line is strongly marked, and one of the most distinctive characters of the fish ap- 
pears to be the strong contrast between the colours above and below the line, the upper parts 
being a decided yellowish-brown, darker on the edges of the scales, producing reticulations, and 
the lower parts bright silvery, the two tints being exactly defined by the lateral line, which is 
darker than the other parts. The head is mostly coloured like the back, There are no spots 
either on the body or fins, but the ends of the pectorals and the posterior edge of the caudal 
are blackish. 
Sir Edward Belcher’s collection contains a Saurus which I should be inclined to refer to the 
species represented by Mr. Reeves’s drawing, but for the greater acuteness of the snout of the 
specimen. They correspond i in colours and position of the fins. In this specimen the height 
of the body is inferior to its width, and is contained about eight times in the total length. The 
back is rounded and depressed, and the thickness diminishes gradually from the dorsal fin to 
the tip of the acute snout, and also in the other direction to the slender tail, which is rouhd near 
the base of the caudal fin. The jaws are equal. The cleft of the mouth exceeds half the di- 
stance from the tip of the snout to the edge of the gill-cover. The centre of the eye is rather 
behind the middle of the cleft, and the length of the head exceeds a fifth part of the whole 
length, or more exactly forms a fourth part of the length, caudal excluded. The eyes encroach 
on the profile and are about a diameter apart, the edges of the orbits being deficient or notched 
above. The interorbital space is concave. The occiput ends in a serrated edge, which is 
slightly concave posteriorly, and the, supra-scapulars also show a projecting rough edge. 
The fronts of the yentrals are attached exactly midway between the tip of the snout and the 
vent. The tips of the pectoral reach just to their first ray, and the commencement of the 
dorsal is a little behind the axilla of the ventrals. The rays are B. 12-13; D.10; A. 12; 
C. 178; P. 13; V.8. The lateral line is straight and is formed by a series of pores; there 
are also a number of lines parallel to it, produced by the transparency of the scales, permitting 
the meeting of the edges of two rows to shine through the discs of the intervening incumbent 
row. The teeth are slender with lanceolate tips, but none of them appear to be distinctly 
barbed. In the upper jaw, the tall ones are inclined forwards and are ranged in a widely-set 
series, with some shorter ones at the base. In the lower jaw there are several graduated rows 
inclined inwards, the interior row being the tallest. The palatine teeth form card-like plates 
which approach each other anteriorly in an acute angle, leaving a narrow smooth space on the 
mesial line. The surface of the tongue is also armed by rows of teeth, but smaller than any 
of the others we have mentioned. The edges of the branchial arches are rough, with much 
‘more minute teeth, very dissimilar to the slender, curved and barbed teeth of the gills of 
Harpodon. 
Hab. Most probably the China seas. 
Mycroruum Boors, Richardson, Ichth, of Voy. of Erebus and Terror, p. 39. 
pl. 27. f. 6-12. 
* The incumbent front ray of these fins is omitted in the figure, and the formula ought 
to be D. 10; A, 12, &c. 
