198 KECOHI'S fiK IIIK Arsli;AI,IAN MISETM. 



lit'inl cttvt'it'd willi huge .scjiles, tliu tlnuat iiakeil. Eye eleVHteil, 

 touching it8 fellow on the upper profile of the liead ; lower eyelid distinct. 

 Snout broad and rounded, with paired fleshy protuberances; two flesshy 

 loht's over the uj)poi- liji, into which the anterior nostrils open. Upper 

 lip tliii'k, the lower witii a fleshy lobe posteriorly; angle of the nmuth 

 lulling below the hinder margin of the eye. Prenia.xillaries with sevei-al 

 .strong canines near the symphysis, I'ollowi'd by smaller teeth on tlie sides; 

 an inner row of small teeth anteriorly. Mandibular teeth in a single row, 

 and smaller tlian those of the upper jaw. Tongue ailnate to the floor of 

 the mouth. Gill-openiug lateral, about as wide as the isthmus. 



Body covered with scales of niodei"ate size, which extend forward to 

 the eyes, and onto the breast and base of the pectoi"al. There are fifty 

 I'ows between the base of the pectoial and the hypural joint, and about 

 fourteen between the anterioi- dorsal and anal I'ays. Genital papilla well 

 developed. 



Kii'st dorsal commencing well behind the base of the pectoi-als ; the 

 fiist spine is highest, the others decrease backward, and the space between 

 the last and the anterior ray is equal to about two-thirds the length of 

 the head. Second dorsal increasing in height to about the eleventh ray, 

 which is as high as the first spine. Anal opposite and of similar foi-m to 

 the second dorsal, but lower. Pectoral rounded, with bifui'cate rays, the 

 median ones longest, but scarcely reaching the vertical of the vent; the 

 lower half of the median rays is covered with stout scales. Venti-als 

 inserted beneath the end of the operculum, the two fins completely united. 

 Caudal rounded, its lower rays shoit. 



Colour. — General colour dark brown in formaline, white below, each 

 scale of the lower portion of the sides with a bluish centre. Dorsals, 

 j)ectoral8 and caudal brownish, with light mai-gius ; ventrals and anal 

 white. 



Described and figured fiom a specimen 1'j7 mm. long. Twelve other 

 specimens l<!8-255 mm. long exhibit but little variation, though some have 

 five instead of four dorsal spines. 



Sipiouyinij. — The name (Jobius hurhnnts, Liniu'', should apparently 

 aj)ply to this species, and not to 1\ hoelrv uteri, to which it has hitherto 

 been refered. Linne quoted no references under his G. harbarus, while 

 such characters as he gives do not enable one to identify his species. 

 Pallas later described V. srlihtsseri and 1'. koelreuteri, but his woi'k is 

 unfortunately not available to us. Bonnaterre, however, gave recognisable 

 figures of both " Le Schlosser" and " Le Koelreuter," which were copied 

 fi-oni Pallas according to Cuvier and Valenciennes-, and he attached the 

 name U. biirhuriiti to the former. As there seems to be no rea.son to 

 suppose he was incorrect, we follow him in identifying Linne's species 

 with P. scliltisseri. 



Periophtlidhnits iint>triillf, Castelnau, described from Northern Queens- 

 land, is evidently synonynaous with /'. bdrbnriig. 



■•' Cuvier & Valenciennes— Hist. Nat. Poiss., xii., 1837, pp. 181 and 192— 

 footnotes. 



