530 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.41. 



one species under the name of Priacanthus liamrur. It may be that 

 the Japanese form should stand as Priacanthus duhius Temminck 

 and Schlegel, or, better, as Priacanthus macrophthalmus (Bloch), as 

 Bloch's specimens were reported to come from Japan. 



The black ventral spot supposedly characteristic of Priacanthus 

 duhius is also found in the East Indian fish, and there are no direct 

 measurements available by which we can judge of its depth, which 

 is said to be greater. It may be that more than the single species is 

 found in both Japanese and East Indian Seas, but we have no facts 

 which will justify a separation or division of the current synonymy. 



The changes which this fish undergoes with age seem to be rather 

 marked, if they are not attributable to a confusion of two species. 

 The caudal is first truncate, then becomes very crescentic, the lobes 

 much produced, and the spine on the preopercle much shorter in the 

 adult. The body loses its tranverse bands of color, if it ever possessed 

 them. Sauvage describes a specimen 8 inches long with truncate 

 caudal and long spine, and other authors figure specimens with caudal 

 emarginate. Priacanthus schlegeli of Hilgendorf has a truncate 

 caudal, long spine, and transverse bands, leading one to believe 

 it a young specimen of P. hamrur. However, he gives the head as 

 much shorter, and the depth greater. His description is trans- 

 lated as f oUows : 



Br. 6, D. 10/14, A. 3/15, L. 1. ca. 85, L. tr. /44. Depth 2| times in length (with 

 caudal). Head 3§ in body length; diameter of eye 2 J in head; length of snout over 

 one-half eye diameter; interorbital breadth two-thirds eye diameter. Preopercle with 

 a long flat spine, extending over the subopercle; posterior and lower borders forming 

 a large blunt angle, both thickly and finely toothed, the vertical intramarginal border 

 entirely buried by scales. Opercle with two weak spines. Fourth dorsal spine 

 longest. Caudal truncate. Scales ctenoid. Red with five dark crossbands. Ven- 

 trals black. (Museum of Berlin, No. 10599.) 



This species is referred by Doctor Boulenger to the synonymy of 

 the American species, Priacanthus cruentatus. This is doubtless in- 

 correct, as the ventrals in the latter are not black, and the scale 

 count does not correspond, although this, as well as the fin -ray 

 count, may be due to different methods of enumeration. 



It has not been recorded by any later authors. 



4. PRIACANTHUS MACRACANTHUS Cuvier and Valenciennes. 



BENIMEBARU (red pop-eye); KINME (gold eye). 



Priacanthus macracanthus Cuvier and Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., vol. 3, 

 1829, p. 108 (Amboyna).— Bleeker, Verh. Bat. Gen. Kunst. Wet., vol. 22, 

 1849, p. 48 (Batavia).— GtJNTHER, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., vol. 1, 1859, p. 220 

 (Japan).— Castelnau, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, vol. 3, 1878, p. 369 (Port 

 Jackson). — Sauvage, Poiss. Madag., 1891, p. 125 (part). — Ishikawa, Prel. Cat. 

 Tokyo Imp. Mus., vol. 1, 1897, p. 55.— Boulenger, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus., 2d 

 ed., 1895, p. 354 (Japan, Formosa, off Banda, Arafura Sea, Port Jackson). — 

 Jordan and Snyder, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 23, p. 358, 1901 (Toyko); 

 Check List, Ann. Zool. Jap., vol. 3, pts. 2 and 3, 1901, p. 83 (Yokohama). 



