168 MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 



gill-rakers moderate ; lower pharyngeals separate. Pyloric eteca in small 

 number; intestinal canal short. Distal end of premaxillary ramus overlapping 

 the maxillary externall}"; premaxillary pedicels not or scarcely extending to 

 tlie frontals; maxillary more or less expanded forward distally, but without 

 distinct notch in its anterior edge. A strong subocular shelf, developed forwards 

 from the second suborbital and mainly internal to the first. Occipital and 

 parietal crests well developed. Vertebrae 24 (lO-f-14). 



Spariform percoids of moderate size, inhabiting the shores of all 

 temperate and tropical seas. These fishes are mostly carnivorous, but some 

 Mediterranean and Atlantic genera, such as Box and Scatharus, are wholly or 

 partially herbivorous. Though the number of species known from Australian 

 waters is but few, the^y are of great importance commercially, both because of 

 their general excellence as food, and also on account of their abundance and the 

 facility of capture. The family is well represented in tertiary deposits. 



Key to the Subfamilies and Genera. 



Denticin^ : — Two anterior precaiidal vertebrae without parapopliit-ses ; first rib sessile. 



a^. Lateral teeth of jaws in a single series, conical .. .. .. .. i. Dentex. 



Spartn^ : — All the precaiidal vertebra? with parapophyses ; all the ribs on parapophyses. 

 b^. Lateral teeth of jaws molariforin. 

 c*. Molar teeth in two series. 

 C-. Molar teeth in three or more series. 



DENTEX Cuvier. 



Dentex Cuvier, Regne Anini., ed. 1, ii, 1817, p. 273 (dentex); Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. 



Nat. Poiss., vi, 1830, p. 212 ; Giinther, Brit. Mus. Catal. Fish., i, 1859, p. 266. 

 Polysteganus Klunzmger, Verh. Zool-bot. Ges. Wien, xx, 1870, p. 763 (cceruleopunctatas). 

 Synagris (Klein) Bleaker, Atlas Ichth., viii, pt. 2, 1877, p. 98. Xot Giinther 1859. 



Body ovate to subovate, compressed. Scales moderate, adherent, finely 

 ciliated. Lateral line complete, not extending on the caudal fin, the tubes with 

 an ascending tubule extending to the border of the scale. Head scaly, except the 

 snout, preorbital, suborbital ring, mandible, and a section of the preopercle. 

 Snout moderate or long ; preorbital wide. Cleft of mouth moderate and slightly 

 oblique, the jaws subequal. Jaws anteriorly with two or three pairs of canines, 

 behind which are several series of small sharp teeth ; lateral teeth uniserial. 

 strong, and conical. Eye moderate. Nostrils well separated. Opercle with a 

 blunt point. Dorsal fin with x-xii 9-12 rays ; spines slender, not or slightly 

 flexible, naked, the soft rays scaly at the base. Caudal deeply einarginate. Anal 

 with iii 8 ra.ys, similar to the dorsal, but the spines much stronger, the 2nd and 

 8rd subequal. Pectoral long and pointed. Ventral iuserted below the pectoral- 

 1)ase, pointed, the outer ray longest. Grill-rakers in moderate number, rather 

 long and slender. Vertebrae 24 (104-14), the precaudals with parapophyses 

 from the third; first rib sessile. {Dentix; the ancient name of a Mediterranean 

 fish.) 



Marine fishes of moderate size, inhabiting the warmer waters of the 

 Eastern Atlantic Ocean from the South Coast of England to the Cape of Good 

 Hope, round which the range is extended at least as far north as Natal, from the 

 coast of which several species have been described; Mediterranean; Philippines 

 and South Queensland, each one species. Two species from the Red Sea have 

 been separated by Kluuzinger under the generic, or subgeneric, title Poh)sfeganus. 



