PEKCID^E. 443 



manclibular row generally larger ; canines present. Tongue smooth. 

 Dorsal fin single, having from 8 to 12 spines ; anal with 3 ; caudal 

 generally rounded, sometimes cut square, or emarginate. Scales 

 small, ctenoid or cycloid. Pyloric appendages varying in number. 



The colour of these fishes varies extensively in the same species, 

 and can hardly be accepted as a trustworthy guide for grouping. 

 The form of the preopercle is not invariably identical in every speci- 

 men of the same species, nor even on the opposite sides of a fish ; a 

 spine is occasionally present at its angle in the immature, becoming 

 more or less absorbed in the adult (such a spine is figured in the ac- 

 companying woodcut, fig. 141). The sub- and inter-opercles may 

 be serrated or smooth, as in Serranus boenack. The fins also alter 

 with age, owing to the spines not increasing in length so rapidly 

 as the rays, and even the latter may be comparatively shorter in 

 the adult than in the young. The second anal spine is sometimes 

 the longest in the immature, but becomes shorter than the third 

 in the mature, especially when the second spine is the stronger. 

 Occasionally there is an excess of one spine and a deficiency of a 

 ray in the dorsal fin. The number of transverse rows of scales is 

 very important amongst these fishes. 



Geographical Distribution. The seas of temperate and tropical 

 regions. The members of this genus in India are entirely marine ; 

 a few, it is true, ascend rivers, not for breeding but for predaceous 

 purposes, restricting their range, however, to within tidal in- 

 fluence*. 



Synopsis of Indian Species. 



A. Dorsal with 11 (rarely 12) spines. 



L. tr. 14/40. Brownish red, with 4 vertical 



darker bands and subdistant small dark 



spots 1. S. stoliczka, p. 445. 



L. tr. 19/47. Close reddish-brown spots, 



with bluish-white lines intervening .... 2. S. areolatus, p. 445. 

 L. tr. 25/56. Dark purplish above, lighter 



below, with numerous dark-edged yellow 



spots ; tail square or emarginate 3. S. coromandelicus, 



L. tr. 20/48. Reddish grey, with nume- [p. 445. 



rous narrow brown (blue ?) longitudinal 



stripes ; tail square 4. 8. undulosus, p. 446. 



L. tr. 16/32. Reddish brown, with large 



darker brown spots 5. S. gilberti, p. 446. 



L. tr. 13/36. Reddish brown, with a net- 

 work of light lines 6. S. hexagonatus, p. 447. 



L. tr. 20/45. Deep grey, with small, rather 



distant, black spots 7. S. maculatus, p. 447. 



* The statement, made more than once, that Serramis and other marine 

 Percidae have been taken near Nepal is simply an error, due to several fishes 

 captured in the tidal Hooghly having been given to the National Collection 

 with erroneous habitats on them. Blyth, Jerdon, and myself have all ineffec- 

 tually' tried to get the error corrected. A flying-fish, Exoccetus, was among 

 Schlagintweit's collection from Tibet ! 



