8 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 
4. SERRANUS LABRIFORMIS. Jen. 
Puate III. 
S. fusco-flavo, nigro, alboque variatus ; dorsali rubro-marginatd ; spinis fortibus, sub- 
equalibus, ad apices lacinits membranaceis investitis; dentibus aculeiformibus,* valde 
retroflewis, seriebus internis majoribus ; caninis, in maxilla superiore duobus, in in- 
Seriore quatuor, mediocribus ; preoperculo margine arcuato, vix denticulato ; oper- 
culo mucrone unico plano, modico, armato; squamis infra lineam lateralem ciliatis, 
supra et in ventre levibus. 
B. 7; D. 11/17; A. 3/8; C. 15, &e.; P. 18; V. 1/5. 
Longe. unc. 17. 
Form.—Oblong-oval, with very much the aspect of a Zabrus. The greatest depth, which is beneath 
the commencement of the dorsal, is rather less than one-fourth of the entire length. The head 
is large, and nearly one-third of the same. ‘The profile, from the dorsal to the end of the 
snout, curves gradually downwards in one continuous bend. The lower jaw projects a little 
beyond the upper. The teeth form a broadish band of fine card in both jaws, with the inner 
rows longer and more curved than the outer; in the upper jaw, a little behind the anterior ex- 
tremity, are three or four longer than the others, and curving so much backwards as almost to 
be laid flat; at the posterior part of this jaw on each side they pass into velutine. The canines 
are strong, but not very long; in number two above and four below, not exactly in front, but a 
little on each side of the middle. The teeth on the vomer and palatines are velutine. The 
eyes are moderately large, high in the cheeks, equidistant from the upper angle of the pre- 
opercle and the end of the snout, with a diameter rather less than one-sixth the length of the 
head: the distance between them about equals their diameter. The margin of the suborbital 
is entire, but a little sinuous. The maxillary is large, and cut nearly square at its posterior 
extremity: it is nearly all exposed, and reaches to beneath the posterior part of the orbit. The 
nostrils are a little in advance of the eyes, and consist of two round openings, one before the 
other, the posterior one being the largest. The whole head, including the lower jaw, 1s covered 
with small scales, which become more minute towards the extremity of the snout, but are very 
visible even there: there are none, however, apparent on the maxillary. The preopercle has 
the basal angle rounded, and the ascending margin a little convex outwards, and denticulated, 
but the denticles are minute and not very obvious. The opercle and subopercle together (the 
line of separation between which is scarcely apparent) form a triangle. The former terminates 
posteriorly in one flat spine, moderately developed, not reaching to the extremity of the mem- 
branous angle by twice its own length. The lateral line, which is rather indistinct, is nearly 
parallel to the back at a little below one-fourth of the depth. The scales on the body below 
* T have employed this term to designate the slender curved teeth, arranged in several rows, which Cuvier 
calls en cardes, or, when less numerous and rather more developed, ex crochets. They much resemble the 
prickles found on some plants. 
