428 Air. A. Alcock on undescrihed Share-Fishes 



Encejjhaloides *, a large Oxystoine crab near Philyra ; a deli- 

 cate mussel, tlie carnivorous Gastropod Mollusk Rostellaria ; 

 and the fishes Parascomhrops pellucidus and Scianectes. In 

 the class of fishes, indeed, almost everything appears to be 

 new, and everything is interesting. Here have been found a 

 species of CentroiJristis and a species of Prionotus^ both being 

 types not hitherto regarded as Indian. The occurrence of 

 Trifjla hemisticta must also be noticed. 



It is uiifoitunatc that for this zone too we have no con- 

 tinuous temperature readings ; but, so far as occasional 

 experiments go, the temperature at the bottom appears to be 

 from 15° to 1(3° Fahr. lower than the temperature at the 

 surface. 



The new fishes from this zone have been described in 

 previous papers. 



§2. Descriptions of New Species. 

 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



Family Scorpaenidae. 



MiNOUS, C. & V. 



Minous coccineus, sp. n. 



D. 10/iV. A. 12. 



Head broad, its length about 3f in the total. Body com- 

 pressed, its height just over j of the same. The bones of the 

 head strong, massive, rugose, " carious " in appearance ; 

 praiorbital with two strong spines, of which the posterior is 

 recurved and much the longer; the infraorbital ring forms a 

 broad, massive, salient buttress, ridged and furrowed, but not 

 spiny ; preoperculum with a strong sharp spine at its angle 

 and two smaller coarse ones below; interoperculura serru- 

 lated ; operculum small, with two diverging weak stays ; a 

 deep crescentic ''carious" excavation across the occiput; 

 occipital and temporal s])ines strong, coarsely serrated. 



k^nout truncated ; its breadth is greater than its length, 

 which is less than that of the eye ; lower jaw the more 

 prominent, each limb with two or three barbels. Eyes deep- 

 set, their major diameter one third of the head-length ; 

 a short bioad tentacle above the pupil ; supraorbital margin 

 coarsely crenulateti ; infraorbital margin thin, sharp, very 

 salient, incomplete beliiiid and also in front, where there is 



* Enrephaloiili'i Anitslnnuji, W'ood-Mnson, MS. 



