10 

 I. Aulostoma Laccpcde. 



{Aulos/oiutis Lacepcde, Hist. nat. Poissons V. 1803, p. 357). 

 Polypterychthys Bleeker, Nat. Tijdschr. Ned. Indie IV. 1853, p. 608. 



For characters of the genus see those of the subfamily. 

 Shore fishes of tropical seas. 



I. Aulostoma valentini (Blkr.) [Fig. 3, p. 9]. 



^ Aulos/oiniis chinensis Lacepede, Hist. nat. Poissons V. 1803, p. 357. 

 Aulostoma sinensis Schlegel, Fauna japon. Poissons, 1845, p. 520. 

 Polyptcrichthys Valentini Bleeker, Nat. Tijdschr. Ned. Indie IV. 1853, p. 608. 

 Aulostoma chinense Giinther, Cat. Brit. Mus. III. 1859 — 1861, p. 538. 

 Aulostoma chinense Bleeker, Ned. Tijdschr. Dierk. I. 1863, p. 235 '). 

 Aulostomus valentini ]oxd7i\i is. Starks, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. XXVI. 1902, p. 64. 

 Aulostomus valentini Jenkins, Bull. U: S. Fish Comm. XXII. (1902)1904, p. 437. 

 Aulostomus valentini Joida.n & Evermann, ibid. XXIII. (1903) 1905, p. 114. 

 Aulostomus valentini Max Weber, Siboga-Exped. Fische 1913, p. 100. 

 Aulostomus chinensis Jordan, Tanaka & Snyder, Journ. Coll. Sc. Univ. Tokyo 

 XXXIII. 1913, p. 103. 



D. VIII— XII. 24—27; A. 4. 22—25; P- 17; V. 6. 



Elongate, compressed; height 11 to 12.5 in length without 

 caudal, 13 — 14 with caudal. Head about 3 in length without 

 caudal, 373 — S'^/a with caudal, extremely compressed, especially 

 the snout, the length of which goes i '/.^ times in that of head 

 and about 5 times in total length. Lower jaw longer than 

 the upper one, prominent, hooked and with a short fleshy 

 barbel at the symphysis. Posterior part and neck rugose. 

 Praeoperculum and operculum with conspicuous striae. Eye 

 about 10.5 — 12.5, contained 2^\^ — nearly 3 times in postorbital 

 part of head and more than 7 — 8 times in length of snout. 

 Soft dorsal posterior, beginning at some distance behind last 

 spurious dorsal spine, equal in length to dorsal, which is 

 opposite to it. Pectorals short, about twice diameter of eye. 

 Origin of ventrals nearly midway between frontborder or middle 

 of eye and base of caudal, much shorter than pectorals. Scales 

 small, strongly ctenoid, head naked; lateral line continuous, 

 slightly arched over base of pectorals. The colour shows varia- 

 tions. Generally it is uniform brownish with a series of ill 

 defined longish, narrow white patches above and below lateral 

 line or with 10 — 14 light narrow crossbars. It may also be 



l) From this date Bleeker uses in the many lists of fishes which he suc- 

 ceedingly published the above name without giving any reason for the change. 



