110 MEMOIBS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 



Uses: — No modern writers whom I am able to consult speak of this as a 

 food-fish, but Valenciennes publishes the following encomium on its excellence: — 

 " It is reported to be the most highly esteemed of all the fishes which are 

 commonly eaten in the Indies; they compare its flesh to that of the salmon." 



Remarks: — Described from an example measuring 321 millim., collected 

 by Dr. J. R. Tosh, and presented by him to the Queensland Museum. 



HOLACANTHUS SEMICIRCULATUS Cuvier & Valenciennes. 



Holacanlhus semicirculatus Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., vii, 1831, p. 191, pi. 

 clxxxiii ; Lesson and Garnot, Voy. Coquille, Zool., ii, 1831, p. 173, pi. xxx, fig. 3 ; Bleeker, 

 Nat. Tijds. Nederl. Tndo., viii, 1855, p. 414 ; id., ibid., xv, 1858, p. 200; id., ibid., xix, 

 1859, pp. 331, 333; id., ibid., xx, 1859, p. 241 ; Gimther, Brit, Mus. Catal. Fish, ii, I860, 

 p. 53 ; Bleeker, Act. Soc. Sci. Indo-Neerl., viii, 1860, Sumatra, p. 26 ; id., ibid., Celebes, 

 p. 35 ; id., Nederl. Tijds. Dierk., i, 1863, p. 270 ; id., ibid., ii, 1865, pp. 148, 190, 287 ; id., 

 Versl. Akad. Amsterdam (2) ii, 1868, p. 297 ; Macleay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, 

 viii, 1883, p. 263 ; Jordan & Seale, Bull. U. S. Bur. Fisher., xxv, 1905, p. 349. 



Chceiodon microlepis Bleeker, Nat, Tijds. Nederl. Inch, iv, 1853, p. 257. 



Holacanihus iburu Montrouzier, Essai. Faun. Isle Woodlark, 1857, p. 169. 



Holacanlhus nicobariensis part., Day, Fish. India, pt. 1, 1875, p. 112. 



Holacanthus nicobariensis var. semicirculatus id., ibid., pi. xxviii, fig. 6 



Aca nthochcetodoti semicirculatus Bleeker, Verh. Akad. Amsterdam, xvii, 1877, Chaet., p. 146 ; id., 

 Arch. Neerl. Sci. Nat,, xii, 1877, p. 21 ; id., Atlas Ichth., ix, 1877, p. 69, pi. ccclxx, fig. 5 ; 

 id., Arch. Neerl. Sci. Nat,, xiii, 1878, p. 45. 



Holacanthus semicircularis de Vis, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, ix, 1884, p. 457. 



Type locality : — Timor. 



Depth of body 1-7 in its length; dorsal and ventral contours subsym- 

 metrical, the former rather the more elevated, its anterior border linear and 

 strongly acclivous to above the posterior border of the eye, thence convex to 

 about the 5th dorsal spine, beyond which it curves gently downwards to the 

 middle of the soft dorsal, whence the descent to the caudal peduncle is more 

 abrupt; ventral contour evenly convex to the ventrals, thence sublinear and 

 gently declivous to beyond the anal spines, thence curving upwards to the 

 peduncle, the least depth of which is 7-2 in the length of the body. Length of 

 head 1-15 in its depth and 3-2 in the body-length. Diameter of eye rather more 

 than the length of the snout, which is 2-55 in the length of the head; interorbital 

 region convex and moderately elevated, its width 1-2, its height 1-5 in the 

 eye-diameter. Jaws equal; maxillary extending to below the posterior nostril. 

 Preorbital without denticles, its width about half the eye-diameter. Both limbs 

 of preopercle feebly serrated, the hinder inclined slightly backward ; spine short 

 and slightly curved, one fourth (to one third) of the length of the head and 

 extending to below the middle (or posterior border) of the operele. 



Scales small; squamulae wanting. Lateral line complete and conspicuous. 



Dorsal fin originating above the hinder border of the operele, with xiii 

 23 rays, the soft portion 1-3 in the spinous; spines graduated, the first moderately 



