256 WAITE 
PSEUDOMONACANTHUS SCABER, Forster. 
RoveH LEATHER JACKET. 
Plate LVI. 
Balistes scaber, in Bloch and Schneider, Syst. Ichth., 1801, 
p. 477. 
Station 28. 
DD. .-303,A. 805. PF. 185s, 12. 
Length of head 3.2, height of body at the vent 2.1, length of 
caudal 3.4 in the total; diameter of eye 3.4, length of snout 1.3, 
and interorbital space 3.0 in the head. 
The gill opening is oblique and placed under the hinder part 
of the eye, being separated therefrom by an interval less than 
its diameter; the nostrils are close together, placed in front 
of the upper part of the eye. The head is deeper than long, and 
the upper profile is sinuous, being concave over the snout; the 
interdorsal space is also concave; the ventral process is markedly 
extensible. 
Fins.—The dorsal spine stands over the hinder half of the eye, 
midway between the end of the snout and the origin of the 
dorsal rays; its length is 1.7 in the head; the hinder barbs are 
large, six or seven in number; the anterior ones are small; the 
middle rays of the dorsal are the longest, about one-third longer 
than the eye: the anal rays are similar, but lower; they originate 
and terminate relatively posterior to those of the dorsal: the 
ventral spine is fixed, large and with prominent spikes, one of 
which is directed forwards: the pectoral has a long fleshy base 
and the actual rays arise behind the vertical of the eye; the 
caudal is rounded and the depth of its peduncle is one-half 
more than the diameter of the eye. 
Scales —The scales are furnished with sharp points which 
make the skin so rough that the finger cannot be freely rubbed 
in a forward direction. 
Colours.—The general colour is warm yellow, the upper parts 
reddish with brown markings, which are variable: the specimen 
described and figured is marked as follows:—A brown stripe 
from above the nostrils passes over the eye to the caudal; two 
dark marks below the dorsal rays and two similar ones at the 
base of the anal: a dark line from the eye to the mouth, and 
another below it; a wider one in front of the gill opening; all 
reach the ventral profile; there is also a clouded area beneath the 
pectoral fin, the colour spreading fanwise below. 
