2g PHILIPPINE POMACENTRIOE 



teriorly behind anterior edge of orbit and is contained 2.8 to 

 8.4 in head. Mouth slightly oblique, jaws even, teeth conical 

 and in a double series, those in the outer much larger than 

 those in the inner. The lower edge of orbital ring distinctly 

 serrated ; width of preorbital at posterior end of maxillary less 

 than half of eye diameter; both lower and vertical edges of 

 preopercle serrated; opercle unarmed. 



Scales finely ctenoid and moderate in size; portion of snout 

 in front of nostrils, anterior half of preorbital, and the entire 

 suborbital naked. Dorsal spines growing higher consecutively 

 toward the last which is about as long as the ventral or the sec- 

 ond anal spine ; rayed portions of the vertical fins produced along 

 the middle into a point ; caudal fin deeply forked, with the upper 

 lobe slightly the longer; pectoral fin longer than head, its tip 

 above base of anterior anal rays ; outer ray of ventral produced 

 into a filament, which extends to base of anal spines. 



Ground color in alcohol varying from brownish to blackish ; 

 body and fins with scattered black spots, which become rather 

 indistinct in some individuals; all the fins colored similarly to 

 body. 



Here described from fifteen specimens, 58 to 89 millimeters 

 in length, collected by Herre at Sibutu and Sitankai Islands, 

 Sulu Archipelago. 



This species, not hitherto known from the Philippines, occurs 

 elsewhere on the coasts of Sangir, Batavia, and Amboina. 



Genus CHROMIS Cuvier 



Chromis CUVIER, Mem. Mus. Hist. Nat. (1815) 353; chromis. 

 Heliases CUVIER and VALENCIENNES, Hist. Nat. Poiss. 5 (1830) 495; 



insolatus; also written Heliastes. 



Furcaria, POEY, Memorias Cuba 2 (1860) 194; puncta^-multilineatus. 

 Ayresia COOPER, Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (1863) 73; punctipinnis. 



Body ovate or oblong, compressed. None of the opercles ser- 

 rated. Teeth conical, in two or more series. Scales moderate 

 in size, 27 or less in longitudinal series; lateral line ending 

 under the posterior portion of soft dorsal ; spinous dorsal scaly 

 or naked; suborbital and lower jaw scaly, the former somewhat 

 adnate to the cheek. Dorsal fin with 12 or 13 spines; each 

 caudal lobe with two or more free sharp spines at base. 



Although this genus is found in all tropical seas, it also extends 

 northward to Japan and the Mediterranean, and southward to 

 the coasts of Chile. 



