28.2 Sir J. Richardson on Australian Fish. 



crease of the posterior spines is much less ra])icl, the last one having 

 half the length of the fifth. The soft rays rise to nearly twice the 

 height of the posterior spines, rendering the fin notched. The third 

 anal spine is somewhat longer than the second one, which is stoiiter, 

 but the spines generally are of moderate thickness, and are com- 

 pressed. The caudal is forked to half its depth. The ventral spine 

 is long and slender. The scales are without asperities, and the ex- 

 posed part of their disk exhibits the concentric rings of structure 

 distinctly. About sixty-one exist in a row between the gill-opening 

 and caudal, exclusive of three or four on that fin. The teeth on the 

 jaws are slender and closely set. 



In the dried specimen the ventrals are pitch-black, and the other 

 fins are nearly equally dark. The body is also dark, but in the 

 absence of drawings or descriptions of the recent fish we cannot state 

 its proper tints. 



Cheilodactyltjs zonatus, Cuv. et Val. 



Cheilodactylus zonatus, Cuv. et Val. vol. v. p. 365 ; Ukh. Rep. 

 Brit. Assoc. 1845, p. 239. 



Radii.— J). 17|31 ; A. 3|8 ; C. 14| ; P. 8 et VI. spec. 



This fish, which is common to the China and Australian seas, 

 appears to be called the "Zebra-fish" by the sealers who frequent 

 King George's Sound, though that name is most generally appro- 

 priated by them to the Crenidens zebra. Its prefrontal bone pro- 

 jects behind the nostril, but not so acutely as in Ch. nigripes or 

 gibbosiis. There is however a difi'ereuce in this respect in different 

 individuals. The width of the interoperculum is about half that of 

 the preopercular disk, and these bones and the cheek are densely 

 scaly. The scales of the cheek however are imbedded in spongy 

 porous skin. The length of the preorbitar equals the diameter of 

 the orbit. In the relative sizes of the opercular bones and preorbitar, 

 and in the form of the dorsal, sonatns and nigripes closely resemble 

 each other, but there is a difference in the anal spines, in the rays of 

 the pectoral, in the shape of the caudals, that of zonatus being only 

 sparingly excavated, and a striking one in the colours. 



The dried specimen of zonatus shows very distinctly eight dark 

 obhque bars on the body, the first crossing the nape and the last the 

 base of the caudal, the intermediate pale spaces being equal to the 

 bars in breadth. The entire head, including the preorbitar, is thickly 

 marked by romid dark spots of the size of duck shot. There are 

 large spots on the caudal, which are so crowded on the margin of the 

 fin as almost to form a continuous bar. Two or in some parts more 

 rows traverse the dorsal, and there are dark marks on the tips of the 

 anal and ventrals. The simple rays of the pectoral are orange. Mr. 

 Reeves's drawing of the Chinese fish represents it as dressed in very 

 lively colours during the breeding season. 



The dorsal is highest at the fifth spine, as in zonatus, and is in 

 other respects similar in form ; but the anal spines are shorter, espe- 

 cially the second, which is also stouter in proportion. Kather less 

 than one-third of the longest pectoral ray projects beyond the mem- 



