FISH FAUNA. 57 



HAPLODACTYLrS, Guv. ^ Val. 



Haplodacttlus etheridgii, sp. nov. 



B. Ti. D. 16/21-22. A. 3/6. Y. 1,5. P. 9/vi. C. 15. L.l. 96-102. L. tr. 13/30. 



The length of the head is five and a fourth, the height of the body four 

 aud three-fourths in the total length. The eye is situated iu the upper 

 third of the head, and encroaches slightly on the dorsal profile ; its diameter 

 is one-fourth of the length of the head, and two-thirds of that of the snout ; 

 the interorbital space is slightly concave, and a trifle more than the diameter 

 of the eye. The snout is obtuse, and rises almost perpendicularly until 

 opposite the lower margin of the eye, whence it ascends in an arcuate form 

 to the middle of the interorbital space, while the profile formed by the 

 occiput and tlie nape of the neck is slightly concave. The cleft of the 

 mouth is small and transverse, and the upper jaw considerably overhangs the 

 lower : the maxilla extends to beneath the posterior nostril. The anterior 

 nostril is large and oval, and is furnished with a rather low ciliated mem- 

 branaceous flap, much longer in front and behind than at the sides, while the 

 posterior is smaller, sub-circular, and with the flap greatly reduced. The 

 opercle is armed with a moderately strong and acute spine, which however 

 does not extend to the margin of the skinny flap, and is separated by a deep 

 semi-circular notch from an upper blunt point. Teeth. — The jaw^s are provided 

 with several series of moderately elongate and compressed incisor teeth, 

 some of which are simple, but the majority possess one, two, three, or even 

 four ]mirs of lateral lobes ; there are no vomerine or palatine teeth. Fins. — 

 The dorsal fin commences above the extremity of the opercle ; its spinous 

 part is strongly convex along its outer edge, and is continuous with the soft 

 part, the anterior rays of which are longer than the fifth and longest spine, 

 which is four-sevenths of the length of the head ; the upper margin of the 

 soft dorsal is truncate and obliquely descending ; the length of the pedicle 

 between the extremity of the dorsal and the origin of the caudal fins is 

 contained nine and three-fourths times in the total length, and is a little 

 more than its height beneath the last dorsal ray : the anal fin is very short, 

 the length of its base being only one-third of the distance between its 

 extremity and the base of the caudal fin ; it commences beneath the sixth 

 or seventh dorsal ray, and terminates beneath the twelfth or thirteenth ; the 

 spines are short, the third, which is the longest, being but a third of the 

 length of the anterior rays, which are equal in length to the head, and much 

 longer than those of the dorsal fin : in one of my specimens the ventral fins 

 reach to the vent, in the other only three-fourths of that distance,* never- 

 theless both bear a similar proportion to the head, than which they are a 

 trifle shorter : the pectoral fin is more pointed than in H. lophodon ; the 

 six lower rays are simple, and the lowermost branched and first simple 

 rays are appreciably longer than the others and equal in length to the head : 

 the caudal fin is emarginate with acute lobes, the lower of which is the 

 longer, one-fifth of the total length. The scales are small, cycloid, and 

 adherent ; the cheeks and opercles are covered with minute scales, as also is 

 the throat, the bases of the dorsal aud anal fins, and a considerable portion 

 of the caudal fin. Colors. — The body and head are brownish green, the 

 abdominal region grey, and the fins brown ; all the lower parts of the body, 

 the tail, and the fins are closely studded with small round white spots, and the 

 outer half of the simple jDectoral rays is uniform yellowish white. 



* The latter example being a gravid female, this difference may prove to be sexual or 

 perhaps only apparent owing to the condition of the tish. 



