VALENCIENNEA 77 



forward, and contained 5f to 6 times in head, 2 times in snout, 

 and 1 times in interorbital space; the jaws equal; the cleft 

 of mouth does not quite reach a point under middle of eye; the 

 teeth in upper jaw sharp and curved inwardly; those of lower 

 jaw of irregular size, but all rather small for the size of the fish ; 

 the head naked except for posterior half of the region above 

 opercle ; all the rest of body covered with finely ctenoid scales ex- 

 cept those on breast and belly which are cycloid ; the dorsals very 

 close together, the membrane of first being attached to first 

 spine of second dorsal ; the first dorsal rather high, third, fourth, 

 and fifth spines longer than body depth, all the spines but the 

 first two with threadlike tips ; the last ray of both second dorsal 

 and anal is elongated and extends upon base of caudal when 

 depressed; the pectoral rather short and obtusely rounded; the 

 caudal obtusely lanceolate to lanceolate, and contained about 2.9 

 times in length. 



The color in alcohol pale yellowish brown, darker above and 

 paler on lower half; on the sides are five large ocellated ring- 

 like or hasplike brown spots with the upper side open and pro- 

 longed toward the back where they disappear ; the first concealed 

 by pectoral fin, the last just before base of caudal. In the middle 

 of each ringlike part is a large brown spot ; on the back are nine 

 short, dark brown transverse bars; the first above the margin 

 between preopercle and opercle, the second and widest above 

 the posterior margin of opercle and pectoral base ; the remaining 

 seven uniformly spaced, the last in advance of the fifth lateral 

 spot; on the sides are four longitudinal rows of spots, badly 

 faded by the preservative ; on side of head are three pearl-white 

 narrow bands with broad dark margins; the first ends at upper 

 end of gill opening; the lowest one begins at angle of mouth 

 and, like the second, extends upon base of pectoral ; on top of head 

 and snout are scattered dark spots; the first dorsal has about 

 seven narrow bands running diagonally upward and backward; 

 the second dorsal has three rows of ocellated spots; the anal 

 has a pearl-colored longitudinal band near its base; the caudal 

 decorated with large ocellated spots; the entire mouth and gill 

 cavity lined with purplish black. 



This description is based upon two fine specimens, 120 and 

 124 millimeters long, or 167 and 161 millimeters long over all, 

 from Canigao, an islet off the southwest coast of Leyte. 



This beautiful fish has been confused with V. muralis, but is 

 quite distinct, the number of scales being markedly different. 

 The only previous Philippine record is that of Weber, who col- 



