NO. 1875. THE JAPANESE SPARID.^— JORDAN AND THOMPSON. 543 



gill membranes separate, free from the isthmus; preopercle serrate; 

 opercle without spines; sides of head usually scaly; dorsal fui single, 

 continuous or deeply notched, sometimes divided into two fins, 

 the spines usually strong, depressible in a groove; the spmes hetera- 

 canthous, that is, alternating, the one stronger on the right side, 

 the other on the left, the spines 9 to 14 in number; anal fin similar 

 to the soft dorsal, with 3 spines; ventral fins thoracic, I. 5, with a 

 more or less distinct scalelike appendage at base; caudal fin usually 

 more or less concave beliind; air bladder present, simple; stomach 

 caecal; pyloric casca few; vertebrae usualh^ 10+14 = 24, Branchio- 

 stegals usually 6 or 7. Cranium with its muciferous system moder- 

 ately developed or rudimentary. Intestinal canal short. Carnivo- 

 rous fishes of the warm seas, most of them valued as food. Genera 

 about 12; species nearly 130. The group is very close to the 

 Lutianidae on the one hand and to the Sparidae on the other, while 

 some of its members show affinities with certain Sciaenidae and 

 Serranidae. 



Key to genera. 



a'. Chin without central groove. 



b^. PLECTORHYNCHiNiE. Preorbital scaly, its margin unarmed; soft parts of 



vertical fins scaly at base. 



c^ Dorsal without antrorse spine; chin without barbels; caudal emarginate or 



forked; scales small, over 100. 



d^. Gill-rakers rather long and slender, 7+11; dorsal spines 14; preorbital 



narrow; body rather elongate; anal rays III, 8, the fin with a scaly sheath. 



Parapristipoma, 7. 

 d^. Gill-rakers short and thick, about 16+24; preorbital broad; dorsal spines 



9 to 12; body rather deep Plectorhynchus, 8. 



c^. Dorsal preceded by an antrorse spine; lower jaw with a tuft of small barbels 

 or papillae, the tip of snout papillate; caudal rounded; scales about 66; dorsal 



spines 11 Hapalogenys, 9. 



6^. ScoLOPSiN^. Preorbital scaled; soft part of vertical fins naked; dorsal spines 

 10; scales large, about 38; gill-rakers very short and blunt, 6+5. 

 e'. Preorbital with a free posterior margin; a spine or other serrations on 

 suborbital Scolopsis, 10. 



7. Genus PARAPRISTIPOMA Bleeker. 

 Parapristipoma Bleeker, Archiv. Neerl. Soc. Sci. Harlem, vol. 8, 1872, p. 4. 



Type. — Perca trilineata Thunberg. 



This genus is alHed to PledorTiynchus, with wliich it agrees in 

 lacking the central groove at the cliin, characteristic of HsBinulon, 

 Pomadasis, and their relatives. The body is relatively slender, 

 covered with small scales. Dorsal fin continuous, with 13 or 14 

 rather slender spines. Anal III, 8. Preorbital unarmed; pre- 

 opercle with fine serrae. Snout and jaws scaly; soft parts of vertical 

 fins scaly at base, the anal with a scaly sheath. 



One species of the Japanese seas. 



