162 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



a Hglit band between tlie fourtli and sixth dorsal spines: margins of pectorals orange: caudal with a black 

 band at its base, and another in its last third having a Hght edge : outer two-thirds of anal blackish : free rays 

 black, with white in their middle. 



This is the species observed upon by Jerdon (Madr. J. L. and Sc. 1851, p. 141,) as follows :— I have 

 drawings and specimens of a very curious fish, which I have marked as Apistws mger, C. V. I however hardly 

 think it can belong to this genus ; it appears to me rather an aberrant form of Pterois, aUied to Swamson's 



eenua Br achyrus." .■.,-, ,i ■ n i fTn ■ •. 



This fish is very common at Madras, attaining about 4 inches in length : the specimen figured (hfe-size) 



is from that locality. 



Habitat. — Coromandel coast of India, and Chiaa. 



Genus, 15 — Stnancidium, Miill. 



BvfficMhys, Swains. 



BrancMostegals seven. Head monstrous and wregularly shaped, hut without sharp spines. Villiform teeth 

 on the jaws and vomer, hut not on the palatines. The soft dorsal contirmous with the spinous, less rays (6-9) than 

 spines (13) ; anal with 3 spines and few (5) rays : no pectoral appendages. Scales absent ; body and sometimes 

 the head vnth shinny flaps. Air-vessel small. Pyloric appendages few. 



SYNOPSIS OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 



1. Synancidium horridum, D. ^|:|S A. |. Eyes elevated : a deep saddle-shaped depression across the 

 occiput. 



1. Synancidium horridum, Plate XXXTX , fig. 3. 



Scorpcma horrida, Linn, i, p. 453 ; Bl. t. 183 ; Lacep. iii, p. 261, ii, t. 17, f. 2. 



^mamceia AorricZffi, Bl. Schn. p. 194; Cuv. and Val. iv, p. 440; Bleeker, Verb. Bat. Gen. xxii, Scler. 

 p. 9, and Eevis. Synan. 1874, p. 12. 



Scorpcena monstrosa, Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 117. 



Synanceia grossa, Gray and Hard. Ind. Zool. i, pi. 97. 



Buffichthys horrida et grossa, Swaioson, Pish, ii, p. 268. 



Synanceia trachynis, Richards. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1842, ix, p. 385. 



Synancidium horridum, MiiU. Akad. Wiss. 1844, p. 163 ; Giinther, CataJ. ii, p. 144 ; Kner. Novara Pische, 

 p. 119. 



B. vii, D. ^:p, P. 16, V. 1/5, A. |, C. 12, Csec. pyl. 3, Verfc. 10/14. 



Length of head 1/3, of caudal 2/11 to 1/6, height of body 1/3 of the total length. Eyes — diameter 1/8 of 

 length of head, 3 diameters from end of snout. Crown of head irregularly saddle-shaped : a deep groove on the 

 cheeks, orbit raised. Teeth — vilb'form in the jaws and on the vomer, which last, Bleeker observes, are not 

 invariably present.* Fins — dorsal spines stiff, the three first the highest and somewhat separated fi«m the 

 others : the vertical fin more or less enclosed in skin. Articulated fin-rays branched. Skin with numerous 

 large and small tubercles even when on the fins : some large fringed tubercles along the lower edge of preopercle 

 and preorbital. Colours — brownish-fawn colour superiorly, becoming lighter below : irregular blotches on the 

 body, and smaller ones on the fins. 



Sabitat. — Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



Genus, 16 — Synanceia, Bl. Schn. 



Syna/nceichthys, Bleeker. 



Branchiostegals seven. Head monstrous, irregularly shaped but spineless, no saddle-shaped fossa across the 

 occiput : no tra/nsverse elevation between the orbits, nor deep groove below the eyes. Villiform teeth on the jaws, vomer 

 amd palatine bones edentulous. The soft dorsal contimmous with the spin/nis, less rays (5-6) than spines (13-16) : 

 anal ivith 3 spines amd few (6) rays, no pectoral appendages. Air-vessd^ present. Scales absent. Pyloric appen- 

 dages few. 



SYNOPSIS OP INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 



1. Synameia verrucosa. D. ^.\, A, |. Prom the Red Sea, through those of India to the Malay 

 Archipelago and beyond. 



1. Synanceia verrucosa, Plate XXXIX, fig. 4. 



Bl. Schn. p. 195, t. 45 ; Riipp. N. W. Pische, p, 109 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 146 ; Klunz. Verb, z. b. Ges. 

 Wien, 1870, p. 811; Bleeker, R4 vis. Syn. 1874, p. 15. 



Scorpcena braehio, Lacep. iii, pp. 259, 272, pi. 12, f. 1. 



Scorpcena brachiata, Shaw, Zool. iv, pt. 2, p. 274. 



Synanceia sanguinolenta, Ehren. Pise. t. 3. 



Stjnanceia braehio, Cuv. and Val. iv, p. 447 ; Bleeker, Sclerop. p, 9. 



• Of course if the presence of vomerine teeth is inconstant, the genus Synancidmm (which is chieflj separated from 

 ByncmceM owing to their presence) has no generic value. 



