Ii4 ACANTHOPTEETGn. 



Family, VI— CIEEHITID^, Gray. 



Pereoid&i, pt, et Sciomoidei, pt., Cuv. : TheraponidcB, pt., et Polynemidce, pt. Richardson. 



Branchiostegals three, five or six : pseudobranchiae. Body oblong and compressed. Mouth in front of 

 snout having a lateral cleft. Eyes of moderate size : cheeks not cuirassed. Teeth in the jaws viUiform or 

 pointed, sometimes canines as well : vomerine and palatine teeth present or absent. A single dorsal fin com- 

 posed of spines and rays of nearly equal extent: anal with three spines. Lower pectoral rays simple, and 

 generally thickened : ventrals thoracic, at some distance from the insertion of the pectorals, and having one 

 spine and five rays. Scales cycloid : lateral-line continuous. Air-vessel absent, or with many appendages. 

 Pyloric appendages few. 



Geographical distribution. — Tropical seas, like-mse in the temperate parts of the South Pacific. 



SYNOPSIS OF GENEEA. 



1. Cirrhites. Branchiostegals six. Opercle unarmed. No teeth on the palatines. Seas of India to the 

 Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



2. GirrhiticMhys. Branchiostegals six. Opercle with spines. Teeth on the palatines. Seas of India to 

 the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



Grenus, 1 — Cieehites, (Gomm.) Guv. 



AmhlycirrJdtus, GiU ; Paracirrhites, Bleeker.* 



BroMcMostegals six. Preopercle denticulated : opercle unarmed. ViUiform teeth in hoth jaws : canines 

 fl eiier ally present : teeth on the vomer, none on the palatines. A single dorsal fin tcith ten spines : the lower five to 

 seven pectoral rays are unbranched. Scales of moderate size. Air-vessel ahsent. Pyloric appendages few.. 



SYNOPSIS OP SPECIES.t 



1. Girrhites Forsteri, D. if, P. 7-fVn, A. f, L. 1. 50. Head and chest with black spots : a broad brown 

 or black band from the head to the upper half of the tail, and a yeUow one below it. East coast of Africa, seas 

 of India. 



2. Girrhites fasciatus, D. if, P. 9 -f- V, A. f . Greyish, vertically banded with darker : white spots on 

 head and nape. Pondicherry. 



1. Girrhites Forsteri, Plate XXXV, fig. 4. 



Perca tceniata, Porster, Descrip. Anim. p. 224. 

 Grammistes Forsteri, Bl. Schn. p. 191. 

 Sparus pamtherinus, Lacep. iv, p. 160, t. vi, fig. 1. 



Girrhites pamtherinus, Cuv. and Val. iti, p. 70 ; Less. Vov. Coq. Poiss. p. 22-5, pi. 22, fig. 1 : Bleeker, 

 Banda, p. 232. - -i i- f , & , 



Gerranus Tamkervillce, Bennett, Ceylon, p. 27, p. 27. 



Girrhites Forsteri, Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 71, and Garrett's Pische d. Sudsee, t. xliv, A ; Gill, Proc. Am. 

 Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil. 1862, p. 112 ; Klunz. Verb. z. b. Ges. Wien, 1870, p. 797. 

 Amblycirrhites Forsteri, Bleeker, Ned. T. Dierk. iii, p. 175. 

 Paracirrhites Forsteri, Bleeker, Cirrh. 1874, p. 6. 



B. vi, D. if, P. 7+VII, V. 1/5, A. I, C. 15, L. 1. 50, L. tr. 5/13, Csc. pyl. 4, Vert. 10/16. 



Length of head S^ to 1/4, of caudal 1/7, height of body 3^ to 31 in the total length. %es— diameter 



* Genns OxycvrrUtes, Bleeker, has the premaxillary produced a considerable distance in front of the mouth. Genus Paraeir- 

 rhUes has the scales on the cheeks large and regularly imbricated, and those on the body smaller ; whereas in Cvrrhites the scales on the 

 body are large, aud those on the cheeks small. 



oJ ^-^T °°^. ™^^"^t? ?■ J^™<=*f *^. 9- ^°d ,Y. iii, p. 70, which Dr. Giinther (in Catal. ii, p. 72) states comes ftom the " Indian 

 Ocean 7' as m the Histoire NatureUe des Poissons,' its locaUty is not given. In the British Museum Catalogue the existence of one 

 specimen is thus recorded, a, Adult : stuffed. Sme patria." On the stand this is now marked " W. Indies." The specimen is as 

 follows. '^ 



D. i?, P. 7-f Vn, V. 1/5, A. I, C. 16, L. ,•. 42, L. tr. 5/10. 



Length of head 3f, of caudd 2/11. height of body 3J of the total length. S/es-diameter 2/9 of length of head, 1 J diameters 

 from end of snout and 2/3 of a diameter apart Vertical limb of preopercle finely serrated. Interorbital space deeply con;ex. A short 

 tentacle at the antenor nostnl. Ihrn-Mth dorsal sprae the longest, equalling the length of the ravg, or 2f the height of the body • 

 second anal spme much the longest, equallmg the highest in the dorsal fin. ■ ' i e u uic uuujr . 



