HAPLOCHBOMIS. 501 



As the fry grow they can no longer all gain admission to the bncco-pharyngeal 

 nursery, but they still keep about the mother, whom they perfectly well recognize, 

 and by whom they are defended with great pluck from the attacks of other fishes. As 

 soon as the young leave her mouth, the mother feeds with great avidity. 



These habits have been verified by Mr. Schoeller on individuals in the free state. 

 The male never takes charge of the eggs, which number from about thirty to forty. 

 They are taken up by the female as soon as deposited in a little hole in the sand 

 and fertilized by the male. 



3. HAPLOCHROMIS DESFONTAINESI. 

 (Plate XC. fig. 3.) 



Labrus desfontainii, Lacepede, Hist. Poiss. iv. pp. 54 & 160 (1802). 



Sparus ? desfontainii, Grervais, Zool. Pal. Gen. p. 208, pi. xlv. fig. 4 (1869). 



Chromis desfontainii, Sauvage, Bull. Soc. Philom. (7) i. 1877, p. 160 ; Vinciguerra, Ann. Mus. 



Genova, xx. 1884, p. 429 ; Eolland, Rev. Scientif. (4) ii. 1894, p. 418, fig. 

 IJemichromis bloyeti, Sauvage, Bull. Soc. Philom. (7) vii. 1883, p. 159. 

 Chromis favii-josephi, Lortet, Arch. Mus. Lyon, iii. 1883, p. 141, pi. viii. fig. 2. 

 Hemichromis gigliolii, Pfeffer, Thierw. O.-Afr., Fische, p. 24 (1896). 



Paratilapia bloyeti, Boulenger, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1898, p. 143, and Poiss. Bass. Congo, p. 418 (1901). 

 Tilapia desfontainesi, Boulenger, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1899, p. 135, pi. xi. fig. 3. 

 Tilapia favii-josephi, Boulenger, 1. c. 



Paratilapia wingatii, Boulenger, Ann. & Mag. N. H. (7) x. 1902, p. 264. 

 Astatotilapia desfontainesi, Pellegrin, Mem. Soc. Zool. France, xvi. 1904, p. 300. 

 Tilapia (Ctenochromis) sparsidens, Hilgendorf, Zool. Jahrb., Syst. xxii. 1905, p. 408. 



Depth of body twice and one-third to three times in the total length, length of head 

 twice and two-thirds to three and one-third times. Snout with straight or slightly 

 convex profile, once to once and one-third the diameter of the eye, which is three and 

 a half to four times in the length of the head and equals or slightly exceeds the inter- 

 orbital width ; least width of the prseorbital two-thirds to once the diameter of the 

 eye; jaws equal in front, or lower slightly projecting; maxillary extending to below 

 the anterior border or the anterior third of the eye ; outer teeth rather large, 

 conical or more or less distinctly bicuspid in the adult, usually bicuspid in the 

 young, 30 to 60 in the upper jaw, followed by two or three series of small 

 tricuspid teeth ; three to five series of scales on the cheek, the depth of the scaly 

 part below the eye nearly equal to or greater than the diameter of the eye ; large 

 scales on the opercle. Gill-rakers very short, the larger sometimes T-shaped, 7 to 

 10 on lower part of anterior arch. Dorsal fin with 14 to 16 (rarely 13) spines and 

 9 or 10 (rarely 8, 11, or 12) soft rays, subequal from the tenth or increasing in length 



