96 



vomer, forming" a V-shaped row ; palatines and tongue edentulous. Preopercle 

 much bowed, margin of opercle sinuous. 



Body elevated behind the head; its deepest point at the insertion of the 

 seventh dorsal spine, whence it curves regularly to the last dorsal ray, thence 

 straight to the tail ; the curve of the under profile is low. 



Fins. — The first dorsal spine arises over the margin of the preopercle, its 

 length is less than the diameter of the eye, the sixth spine is the longest, a little 

 less than twice the diameter of the eye. The membrane forms a fine free pennant 

 behind each spine. The length of the base of the spinous is less than that of the soft 

 dorsal ; the longest soft ray is half the length of the head. The Anal commences 

 below the origin of the soft dorsal and has a short base ; its second, or longest ray, 

 is one-fourth longer than the longest ray of the dorsal. The Pectoral extends as 

 far as the vent, the two upper and eight lower rays are simple, the distal portion 

 of the latter being free. The Ventral arises below the seventh dorsal ray ; its 

 length is nearly three-fourths that of the Pectoral. The Caudal is slightly 

 rounded, and the depth of its peduncle is 34 in the height of the body. 



Scales. — Scales cycloid on the body and opercle, head otherwise naked, but 

 with fine striae and vermiculations. Lateral line almost straight. 



Colours. — Greenish-brown, with irregular dark blotches on the head ; 

 blotches on the body above, and spots below the lateral line ; an oblique black 

 bar below the eye and a silvery spot on a black ground on the opercular lobe, 

 soft dorsal and anal with hyaline spaces and black spots. Pectoral, Ventral, 

 and Caudal with faint darker bars. 



Length of specimen described, 215 mm.; another seen was 255 mm. 



Two examples were caught on hand lines from the rocks, close to the camp. 

 Richardson remarks that "it frequents rocky places." His •"'-) description and 

 figure were made from a dried specimen which appears to have lost its char- 

 acteristic shape. The figure is too elongate, and does not sufficiently show the 

 contour, which proves to be very similar to Goniistius. The maxilla is in- 

 correctly illustrated as entering the gape, and the dorsal spines appear to be too 

 low and too uniform in height ; the pectoral is shown as extendng only half-way 

 to the anal instead of almost thereto. Other discrepancies will be apparent on 

 comparison with the figure here supplied. The type of the species was taken in 

 King George Sound, Western Australia. 



C2) Richardson, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1850. p. 70. Fishes, pi. ii., figs. 1, 2. 



