j«o.i2(;6. LABROID FISHES OF JAPAN— JORDAN AND SNYDER. 655 
Asia'. Orient., 1882, p. 29; Yokohama.— Ishikaw.\, Prel. Cat., 1897, p. 28; 
Boshu. 
Imistiiis (lea Jordan and Snyder, Check List, 1901, p. 88; Yokohama. 
Xyrichthys puniceus Richardson, lehth. China, 1846, p. 261; Canton. 
Head 3f in length; depth 2^; depth of caudal peduncle If; eye 6^ 
in head; interorbital space 5i; snout niea.sured from eye to tip of jaw 
If; I). II, VII, 12; A. 111,11; scales in lateral series 23; between lat- 
eral line and dorsal fin 2; between lateral line and insertion of anal 10. 
Body deep, compressed, caudal peduncle deep, dorsal contour ele- 
vated, anterior profile almost vertical, ventral contour evenly and 
gentlj^ curved. Eye small, high in head, near occiput, the suborbital 
area ver}- broad, a narrow, cutaneous flap above and below e}' e. Snout 
blunt with a sharp ridge anteriorly. Mouth horizontal, a shallow fur- 
row extending backward from the angle, lower lip narrow, thin, pend- 
ent, jaws equal. Teeth in a single row in each jaw, short, pointed, not 
coalesced at bases, 2 strong, curved canines at tip of each jaw, no pos- 
terior canines. Preopercle entire; opercle with a broad flap. Gill- 
rakers on first arch 6+10, those near ends very small; the middle 
ones rather thick, pointed. Head naked, scales slightl}^ smaller on 
l)reast, not reduced in size on nape, dorsal and anal without basal 
sheath, small scales on base of caudal fin. Lateral line sharply curved 
anteriorl}^ interrupted below base of anal fin. Two anterior spines 
of dorsal united together by an incised membrane, separated in the 
following ones by an interspace, the first spine filimentous, somewhat 
higher than length of head; spines slender, 10 to 12 in second series, 
about 2i in head. Anal spines very slender, the rays a little shorter 
than those of the dorsal. Caudal rounded, 1^ in head. Outer raj'S 
of ventrals filimentous, reaching a little beyond first anal spine. 
Color in spirits, yellowish, dusky along back; pearly white spots or 
blotches on 1 or 2 rows of scales below base of dorsal; a deep Ijlack 
spot on the scale above the sixth or seventh one of the lateral line; 
dorsal fin with bluish or dusk}^ reticulations; anal with a pearly blue 
band along the base and an indistinct dusky line along the middle; 
caudal with 3 faint vertical stripes; pectorals and ventrals with traces 
of pearly blue. 
Color in life: Crimson, middle line of head bright sky blue, black 
spot of side bordered with blue; dorsal violet with crimson edges, anal 
l)hie at base, the outer parts dull orange, caudal crimson, pectorals 
pink, ventrals dull red. 
Here descril^ed from specimens about 250 millimeters long. 
This large and beautiful species is rather common in southern 
flapan. occurring about rocks. Our specimens are from Tokio, Misaki, 
Wakanoura, and Nagasaki. 
The two sexes are similar in color, but in one male specimen the lat- 
eral spot is o])solete. 
{Urtf, a goddess.) 
