444 



Family POMACENTRIDAE. 



Genus Glyphis©don, Lacepede. 



Glyphtsodon sokdidus, Forskal. 



PI. xl., fig. 1. 



Chactodon sordidus, Forskal: Descr. Anim., 1775, p. 62. 



Glyphidodon leucopleura, Day: Fish. India, 1877^ p. 38-5, 

 pi. lxxxiii., fig. 4. 



Glyphidodon sordidus, Waite : Mem. Austr. Mus., iii.. pt. 3, 

 1897, p. 192. 



D. xiii. 16; A. ii. 15-16: P. 19; V. i. 5 : C. 15; L. lat. 

 22; L. tr. U, 1, 14. 



Twenty-eight scales between the operculum and the 

 hypural joint, and three and a half between the back and the 

 lateral line below the median dorsal spines. Body short and 

 deep, narrower in the young, its depth 1"6-1"8 in the length 

 to the hypural joint; head 2'6-2'8 in the same. Eye 2'5-3'3 

 in the head. Fifth dorsal spine 1*7-1'9, fourth dorsal ray 

 1*4-1*7 in the head. 



Bod}^ with five dark cross-bands, which are broader than 

 the interspaces between them. The first is indistinct, and 

 crosses the back before the dorsal fin. The second and third 

 descend from a large black blotch on the dorsal fin which 

 covers the membrane between the second and seventh spines ; 

 these bands are darker than the others, and may be coalescent 

 on the back. The fourth band is placed below the tenth to 

 twelfth spines, and the fifth below the anterior rays. A large, 

 rounded, black spot on the upper anterior portion of the 

 caudal peduncle extends forward a little below the posterior 

 ■dorsal rays. Upper base of the pectoral fin with a distinct 

 black spot. Outer ventral ray dusky, as is the anterior por- 

 tion of the soft dorsal and the greater part of the anal. 



The above definition is based on three specimens 34, 45, 

 and 74 mm. long, the largest of which is figured. They are 

 apparently identical with G. sordidus, Forskal, having the 

 body short and deep, with 3h series of supralateral scales, 

 and a striking black spot on the caudal peduncle, features 

 which are characteristic of that species. 



Synonymy. — A critical comparison of these specimens with 

 one of the types of G. leucopleura, Day, which is preserved in 

 the Australian Museum, convinces us that they are identical 

 with that species also. Day's example is only 36 mm. long, 

 and is in very bad condition, but sufficient of its characters 

 are retained to leave no doubt of its authenticity ; it agrees 

 much better with his description than with his figure, how- 

 ever, and suggests the latter is inaccurate in both the form of 

 its fins and the disposition of its colour-marking. Day has 

 described a "dark, almost black, band from the first half of 



