S2 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



Anthias diagramma, Blocli, t. 320 (var. Bloohii). 



Grammistes pictus, Bl. Sch. pp. 184, 190. 



nolocentrus radjahou, Lacep. iv, pp. 335, 374. 



Imtj emus pictus, Lacep. v, pp. 687, 688. 



Diagramma BlocUi, Cuv. and Val. v, p. 312 ; Griintlier, Catal. i, p. 329. . 



? Diagramma pmcilopterum, Cut. and Val. v, p. 314; Temm. and Schleg. Fauna Japon. Foiss. p. 61; 

 Giintlier, Catal. i, p. 329. ^ .^ -n- . . 



Diagramma piatum, Cuv. and Val. v, p. 315 ; Tern, and ScMeg. Fauna Japon. p. 62 ; Hichardson, Ich. 

 Ctma, p. 227 ; Giintlier, Catal. i, p. 327. 



Diagramma halteatum, (KuU. and v. Hass.) Cuv. and Val. v, p. 316. 



PlectorhynoJms Bloohii, Cantor, Catal. p. '?7. 



Pleatorhynchus halteatus, Cantor, Catal. p. 78. 



Tlectorhynchus punotatus, Bleeker, Atl. Ich. Perc. xxii, fig. 1, Certoi, p. 187, and Revis. Plector. p. 298. 



B. vi, D. ^.W, P. 17, V. 1/5, A. f L. r. ^, L. tr. 16/26. ^ 



Length of tead 2/9, of caudal 2/13, teiglit of body 4/15 of the total lengtk %es— diameter 2/7 (in the 

 young) to 2/9 of the length of head, If to 2 diameters from the end of snout, and nearly 1 apart. The maxilla 

 reaches to below the front edge of the orbit. Teeth — generic. Fins — dorsal spines of moderate strength, the 

 first short, the third usually the highest and equalling about one half the depth of the body, the second and 

 fourth spiaes are of nearly the same height but variations are constantly found, the last dorsal spiue is about 

 one fourth of the height of the body, and the rays a little higher than the anterior or most elevated portion of 

 the spiaes. Pectoral as long as the head excluding the snout : the second and third anal spines of about the 

 same length and equal to about half the length of the head or the height of the sixth dorsal spine : caudal cut 

 nearly square, or with rounded angles. Colours — This fish having been divided into several species due to 

 variations in colour, I propose describing such in accordance with what appears to me to be that most readily 

 explained. Diagramvma Bloohii (variety) orange yellow or white, with chestnut brown or black longitudinal 

 bands, the upper three of which commence between the eye and the base of the first dorsal spine, the superior 

 narrow runs along the base of the spinous dorsal and joins the one on the dorsal fin : the second and third are 

 broader and coalesce above the middle of the pectoral fin, becoming lost below the base of the soft dorsal and 

 on the upper edge of the free portion of the tail : the fourth and fifth proceed from the snout, through the eye, 

 and go direct to the centre of the base of the caudal, where they join and are continued to the end of the fin 

 in a wedge-shaped form : below these bands are one or two more, the upper of which goes to the lower edge of 

 the free portion of the tail. Dorsal fin with a narrow black margin, a broad dark band runs from the upper 

 two-thirds of its second spine backwards and downwards to the base of the fin, leaving the lower third of the 

 second and third spines uncovered, this band is sometimes interrupted (as shown by Bloch), causing a black 

 spot to exist between its third and fourth spines ; if continuous (as in PL xxi, fig. 3), it coalesces with the 

 upper body band, and is continued in a wedge-shaped form to the posterior-superior angle of the soft dorsal 

 fin. Caudal vyith a central wedge-shaped dark band, and a cross-band over its upper and lower angles, these 

 are frequently broken up into spots : the lower half of the anal and the end of the ventral black.* 



A very interesting form of colouring exists in a specimen with D. -^ from Madras, presented by Dr. 

 Jerdon to the British Museum, it is the intermediate form of ornamental colouring between D. Bloohii and 

 jD. pictum, the two bands which pass backwards from the eye to the caudal fin become merged into one below 

 the middle of the soft dorsal. 



Diagramma piotvm has the same ground colour as D. Bloohii with fewer but wider longitudinal bands : 

 the first, second, and third bands coalesce much sooner, the upper two below the middle or end of the 

 spinous dorsal, and the second and third on the nape : whilst the two bands which pass backwards from 

 the eye to the caudal fin, and which coalesce in Dr. Jerdon's specimen below the middle of the soft dorsal, in 

 the typical pictum form a single broad one by the amalgamation of them in their whole length from the eye to 

 the taU. The fins are coloured as described for D. Bloohii, in short the immature appear to be generally 

 coloured as in the typical D. pictum,. 



Bleeker's figure of PleotorhynohMs punctatus is this species, the ornamental colouring being increased 

 by the addition of some extra intermediate bands which are broken up into spots : the ventral and anal are 

 likewise darker, due to the existence of additional colour. 



In a bad skin in the British Museum, marked D. Blochii with D. fa, all the longitudinal bands are 

 broken up into a series of elongated spots or blotches. 



Having remarked how the wide bands in the typical D. piotvm are liable to be varied by the existence 

 of more numerous but narrower ones in D. Bloohii it remains to be observed that they may be further 

 modified by being broken up into rows of oblong blotches or spots ; or when narrow bands eiist they may be 

 alternately complete or interrupted as in D. posciloptentm. 



„ -1 ^°\ ^^7^^'F/ ^ish Zanz. p. 28, apparently on the authority of a single skin, asserts "the colour of the adult is dark 

 grey, with darker longitudinal lines and series of spots; fins blackish, except pectorals, which are grey" But as sDecimens wTth 

 the colouring of the typical Blochii exist as large, as the grey Uneated one, f thfnk it would be preferfblJ to consider sS™ having 

 a peculiar form of co ounng. HowcTer, a doubt is raised as to whether Diagramma BlooUi, Cviy. and Val., is Anthias dCramma 

 Blocn, a^ he remarks -the younger specimen agrees perfectly with the AntUas Aiagmmma of Bloch, although it is doubtfulwhethTu 

 IS the same as the U. Blochii of Cavier and Valenciennes, which is only known from a figure taken at Trincomalee " ^netner it 



