gg PHILIPPINE POMACENTRID^E 



Body subcircular, greatly compressed, depth 1.6 to 1.7 in 

 length; head 3 to 3.5; depth of caudal peduncle 5.8 to 6.3. In- 

 terorbital wide, convex, and slightly bulging, 2.5 to 2.8 in length 

 of head ; eye large and circular, 2.5 to 3.1 ; snout short, pointed, 

 8 to 3.8, shorter than maxillary, which is contained 2.7 to 3.1 

 in head and ends posteriorly behind front margin of orbit. 

 Mouth oblique, jaws equal; teeth uniserial, those in front with 

 sharp cutting edges, and those on sides more or less notched. 

 Gill rakers about 27 on first arch. Preorbital with a shallow 

 notch in front, its greatest width less than half diameter of 

 eye; suborbital very narrow. 



Head and body completely covered with scales. Middle dorsal 

 spines highest, but lower than second anal spine. Soft dorsal 

 angular, its height almost equal to length of head ; anal rounded ; 

 caudal forked, with the lobes pointed; ventral fin much longer 

 than pectoral, its outer ray produced into a long filament which 

 reaches base of anterior anal rays. 



Brownish olive in alcohol, with three black, rather ill-defined 

 crossbands, wider above and formed by black spots on the cuta- 

 neous sheaths of the transparent scales; the first one below 

 the anterior dorsal spines, the second one from the posterior 

 dorsal spines to vent, and the third between the soft dorsal and 

 anal. Spinous dorsal, anterior two-thirds of anal, and upper 

 and lower margins of caudal blackish, the remainder of these 

 fins yellowish ; pectoral pale, ventrals a little dusky. 



Here described from thirty-five specimens, 37 to 85 millimeters 

 in length, obtained at the following places : Sialat Point, Catan- 

 duanes Island; Puerto Galera and Calapan, Mindoro; Bacon, 

 Sorsogon; Bantayan Island and Bogo, Cebu; Cabalian, Leyte; 

 and Tawitawi, Bungau, and Sibutu Islands, Sulu Archipelago. 

 A single specimen, 71 millimeters long, collected at Sialat Point 

 in September, 1925, and two others, each 75 millimeters in 

 length, taken at Cabalian in December, 1922, are females about 

 ready to spawn. The example from Bacon has been recorded 

 before by Evprmann and Seale. Fowler and Bean also listed 

 this species, from Zamboanga. 



A living specimen at the Bureau of Science aquarium is yel- 

 lowish with bluish black spots on some of the scales of head and 

 trunk, forming ill-defined transverse bands which become lighter 

 and narrower on the lower parts. The number and nature 

 of these bands, together with the subcircular shape of the body, 

 the slender dorsal spines, and the long strong second anal spine, 

 make this species distinct from the others. 



