CO LORD HOWE ISLAND. 



SCORP^NA SCABRA, B. S{ . 0., Sp* 



A single specimen, three and a half inches in length, was collected by Mr. 

 Saunders in a rock-pool. 



PTEEOIS, Cuvler. 

 Ptebois volitans, Linn., sp. 



The " Butterfl;y -fish " occurs in small numbers at all seasons of the year, 

 and is not unf requently washed ashore dead ; it grows to a foot in length. 



NANDIDiE. 



PLESIOPS, Cuvier. 



Plesiops nigricans, Eilpp., sp. 



A single specimen, four and a half inches in length, was obtained by 

 Mr. Etheridge's party from a pool on the reef at low water. 



CYRTID^. 



PEMPHEEIS, Cuv. ^ Val. 



Pemphebis unwini, sp. nOG. 



Plate III, f. 1. 



B. vii. D.5/8. A.' 3/22. V. 1/5. P. 16. C. 17. L. 1. 67. L. tr. 5/14. 



The length of the head is three and one-third, the height of the body three 

 and nine-tenths in the total length ; the diameter of the eye is three-eighths 

 of the length of the head, while the snout is four-sevenths of the diameter of 

 the eye, and the slightly concave interorbital s])ace three-fifths of the same. 

 The body is oblong-oval, and greatly compressed posteriorly, and the dorsal 

 profile is not nearly so much arched as the ventral. The lower jaw is 

 prominent, the cleft of the mouth moderately oblique, and the maxilla, which 

 is dilated and sub-truncate posteriorly, reaches to a little behind the middle 

 of the orbit. Teeth. — There is a single row of small sharp teeth on the jaws, 

 vomer, and palatines. Fins. — The dorsal fin commences immediately behind 

 the base of the pectorals, and terminates above the vent, the distance between 

 its origin and the ti]) of the snout being two and four-fifths in the total 

 length ; the last spine is much shorter than the first and longest ray, which 

 is rather more than half the length of the head : the anal fin is short and its 

 rays are lower than those of the dorsal, the anterior one being just four- 

 ninths of the length of the head : the ventral fin does not nearly reach the 

 vent, and its length is about equal to that of the longest anal ray : the pec- 

 toral fin is rather long and pointed, extending backwards to opposite the 

 vent, and is three-fourths of the length of the head : the caudal is forked, 

 and its length is one-fifth of the total length. The pedicle is strongly com- 

 pressed and low, its height being three and three-fourths in that of the body. 

 The scales are small and strongly ctenoid, and the bases of the dorsal and anal 

 fins are naked. Colors. — Brick-red, the head being rather darker than the 

 body. 



The species here described probably belongs to Dr. Steindachner's genus 

 F ar a pri acanthus founded on a Japanese fish ; but as the only notice of the 

 genus which I have seen is that in the "Zoological Eecord " for 1870 I am 

 unable to sj^eak positively on this point ; the two species however agree in 

 the greatly decreased number of anal rays. The foregoing remarks apply 



* Described in the Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, x, 1885, p. 577, under the name 

 of Sehastes scaher. 



