THE FISHKS OF SAMOA. SU'J 



PLATYGLOSSUS ( Klein I Bleeker. 



Tliis f;enus in very ckwly allied to Iluliihitrts. The body is deeper and more compressed, and 

 the scales along the base uf the dorsal more elevated, forming a low sheath. 



927. Platyglossus marg^inatus (Riippell). Samoa; Raiatea (Seale). (PI. \i.vi, tig. I.) 



Two specimens of this handsome fish were collected by us at Apia. It has nut heretofore been 

 found in the South Seas. 



Life colors of one specimen, olive- black, region covered liy pectoral bright cherry- red; a reddish 

 streak alontr the edge of each row of scales, these clear brown on back, faint posteriorly and pinkish 

 brown on belly; head golden-brown, much striped with dark blue; belly also blue, striped with 

 brown: dorsal dark orange-brown spotted with dark blue, and edged with sky-blue with a dark blue 

 boimding line; caudal deep orange-brown with dark blue spots and sky-blue edgings; a dark blue 

 bounding line, the angles olive-gray; anal like dorsal but further edged with bright yellowish green; 

 ventral and pectoral dark bluish; axil cherry-red. 



928. Platyg-lossus notopsis (Kuhl & Van Hasselt). Samoa; East Indies. 



The young of this fish differs markedly from the adult in having four conspicuous white lines 

 along the side and two or three similarly colored spots below the dorsal. The dorsal, in both young 

 and old, has a small ocellus between the first and second spines, and a very large one between the 

 tirst and sixth rays. 



This is a common fish at Samoa. We have 40 specimens from Apia, and 49 from Pago Pago. 

 Color in life of a specimen from Apia, almost jet-black, with very obscure whitish spots on scales; 

 caudal paler sooty; iris red; pectoral dull olive, a black bar across ba.se; breast and chin purplish 

 black; dorsal, anal and ventral black, the dorsal usually with a large bluish, white-edged ocellus; 

 caudal abruptly pale olive (side with about a dozen greenish pale streaks in younger ones) ; teeth 

 small, a posterior canine; head naked; body deep, head sharp above; scales large; dorsal uniform. 



Another specimen from the same locality was jet-black, with six irregular interrupted whitish 

 lines, plainest on head; dorsal black, with a large white-edged ocellus on first soft rays; caudal 

 abruptly bright white, a whiter stripe along anterior edge; anal and ventrals black. 



Life colors of a specimen from Pago Pago, black, with very faint streaks of bluish, scarcely evi- 

 dent and distinct only on head; caudal abruptly muddy white; a large, black, whitish-edged ocellus 

 on first soft dorsal rays, and a little one on first and second spines; dorsal striped throughout with dull 

 orange; anal, ventral, and pectoral plain blackish. This is very close to another that has golden 

 stripes, very distinct. The latter is apparently the young. 



929. Platygrlossus flos-corallis Jordan & Seale, new species. Samoa. ( PI. xlvi, fig. 2. ) 



Head .3.20 in length; depth 3.50; eye 4.50 in head; dorsal ix, IL'; anal in, 11'; scales 2-30-8, inter- 

 orbital equal to eye; snout 3 in head. 



Body oblong, compressed; caudal rather deep, 2.30 in head; head unsealed; mouth somewhat 

 protractile, jaws equal, lips thick; teeth in a single series of sharp, somewhat projecting conical teeth 

 in each jaw, the front ones the largest; a sharp canine tooth at angle of jaws; opercle and preopercle 

 entire; gillrakers very short, sharp, about 13 on lower limb; longest dorsal ray 2.75 in head; longest 

 anal spine 2.80 in head; ba.se of anal equal to length of head; pectoral 1.50 in head; anal rounded, 

 1.50 in head; ventral equal to length of pectoral, its tips not reaching base of anal. 



Color in spirits, a dull yellowish brown with ten longitudinal blue lines on the side from head 

 to caudal; these lines are slightly wider than their interspaces and are most distinct on anterior half 

 of body; the caudal peduncle has a median line of yellowish white on its sides extending in from cau- 

 dal fin; a bright yellow spot on base and in axil of pectoral with a smaller distinct black spot on 

 upper part of base; head yellowish with two blue lines from interorbital to tip of snout, a blue line 

 from anterior margin of eye to tip of snout, a curved blue line around chin over cheek across oper- 

 des to base of pectoral, below which are two indistinct blue lines; just back of orbit is a black spot 

 forming the termination of the 4-5 lines of body; the three upper body lines extend on nuchal region, 

 the second joining the line above, the other terminating at upper po.sterior margin of orbit; a blue 

 crescent on opercular flap; dorsal with seven longitudinal bands of color, the mid one of greenish 

 white, occupying the middle of the fin, being the widest; a broad, dark green, black-edged stripe just 



