KUHLIA. — POLYCENTBOPSIS. 99 



anterior soft rays ; tenth spine not or but very slightly longer than ninth. 

 Anal in 12-13, longer than its distance from caudal. Pectoral f length 

 oi head. Caudal deeply forked, middle rays not more than f length of 

 outer. Scales 52-55 jffjg. Silvery, bluish grey on the back; caudal 

 black-edged and with an angular blackish band within the border. 



Total length 190 millim. 



Madagascar, Mascarene Islands, Society Islands, and probably other 

 islands in the South Pacific— Type believed to be lost. 



Family 2. NANDID^. 



Perciform fishes with the suborbitals not produced into a subocular 

 lamina, with teeth on the palate, no entopterygoid, separate lower 

 pharyngeal bones, gill-membranes free from isthmus, 6 branchiostegal 

 rays, and two nostrils on each side. Spinous dorsal well developed ; 

 soft portion of dorsal not more developed than anal; latter with 

 3 or more spines. Prisecaudal vertebra; with transverse processes 

 from the seventh or eighth ; ribs mostly sessile, behind the transverse 

 processes. 



Fresh waters of West Africa, South-Eastern Asia, and South America. 



1. POLYCENTROPSIS. 



Bouleng. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1901, i. p. 8. 



Body short, elevated, very strongly compressed; scales moderately 



large, ciliated ; lateial line incomplete, reduced to a few tubes. Mouth 



large, extremely protractile, the ascending processes of the pra;- 



maxillaries extremely long and extending to the occipital region ; 



villiform bands of very small teeth in the jaws, on the vomer, and on the 



palatines ; anterior nostril tubular ; head for the greater part covered 



with scales; prseorbital, prseoperculum, and interoperculum serrated; 



operculum ending in a spine. No pseudobranchise. Dorsal and anal 



fins nearly equally developed, with scaly sheath at the base, the former 



with 15 to 17, the latter with 9 to 12 strong spines, the soft portion much 



reduced. Ventrals below the pectorals, close together, with a strong 



spine. Vertebra; 23 (10 + 13). 



A\'est Africa. 



H :] 



