170 ACANTHOPTERYGn. 



spot. A deep black spot behind tte gai-opening, a dark mark in the a^. In some rare instances a dark 



spot -y,e^f -;^-S t: t^dL^f -this genns on the Coromandel.co^t of In^ (see pL^), and^m 



of opinion that tLy are f *- ^^^f^^ ^.ttirpl^l T 2^°^^^^^ 

 distinctly shows one has a hand on its eye, pi. civ. ^.see aiso pi. xu. i. a.f 



theco— est,^^d^Iconside^^ U^^M^a.^ 



are not^ta^^^orthy. ^ ^^ ^^_ ^^^^^ ^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^Myri^is lotoU, G. V. Jlfoo^^ Mn Ulca^, Tam. 



^"^"Vr!^ aLther, Catal. i, p. 21, considers Russell's fish (pi. cv.) is identical with M. nmrd^a^, bat Bleeker 

 points out that the colours in the two are very differently disposed on the tas specimen 



^ Habitat.-I^s^t coast o£ Africa, seas of India to the Malay Archipelago ^^fJ^T?f- ^'^^^^ 



figured is 8f inches in length and from the Coromandel coast of India. It is not nearly so common as tte 

 AL. murdjan. 



2. Myripristis murdjan, Plate XLI, fig. 2. 



Seicena murdjan, Forsk. p. 48 ; Gmel. Linn. p. 1301. 



Perca murdjan, Bl. Schn. p. 86 ; Lacep. pp. 396, 418. 



Svarus sullameroo-huntee, RusseU, Fish. Vizag. ii, p. 3, pi. ciy. , ^r w i? o«; P„^ a.T,H Val iii 



Myripristis mwrdjan, Rupp. Fische R<,th. Meer. p. 86, t. xan, f 2, and l^- W. F. p. 95 ; Cuv. and V^^m, 

 V m and^, p. 495; Bleeker, Amb. p. 109, and Revis. Myrip. 1871, p. 11; Gunther, Catal. LP- 21; Kner. 

 Nova^ Fische,p.4; Playfair, Fish. zLz. p. 51 (part); Klunz. Fische Roth. Meer, Verb. z. b. Ges. Wien, 



1870, p. 726. 



Myripristis melanophrys, Swains. Fish, ii, p. 207. 



B. viii, D. 10 1 „1t^, P. 15, V. 1/7, A. ^t^, C. 19, L. 1. 28-30, L. tr. 3|/7|. 



Length of head 3i to 31, of caudal from 1/5 to 2/9, height of body from 1/3 to 3i m the total length. 

 Baes— diameter 2} to 2\ in length of head, 1/8 of a diameter from end of snout, and about 1/2 a diameter apart, 

 the width of the iuterorbital space equaUiag from 1/4 to 4>i in the length of the head. Posterior edge of hmd 

 nostril usuaUy serrated in the young. Lower jaw slightly the longer, having a rough, nipple-bke projection on 

 either side of the symphysis. The maxiUa reaches to beneath the last third of the orbit, it has some blunt 

 denticulations on its front near its lower end. Under surface of lower jaw furrowed by ten or twelve grooves : 

 the maxilla, pre- sub- and inter-opercles also grooved. Preopercle serrated ia its whole extent. Interoperde 

 finely denticulated : opercle with a moderately strong spiae, having a few denticulations above it, and the whole 

 of its outer margin below it serrated. Sub-opercle with an emargination opposite the base of the pectoral fin. 

 Shoulder-scale serrated. Upper surface of the head roughened by three or four raised lines, which, passing 

 backwards, divide and subdivide, each terminating in a small spine. Teeth — villiform in the jaws, with an 

 external row of widely separated ones which are larger and conically rounded, none on the tongue. Fina — 

 dorsal spines increasing in length to the third which is about the same height as the three next or equal to one 

 diameter of the orbit, the interspiuous membrane rather deeply emarginate, front portion of the second dorsal 

 higher than the first. Pectoral as long as the head behind the middle of the eye in the adult, longer in the 

 young : ventral reaches two-thirds of the distance to the anal. Third anal spine the strongest but the fourth 

 the longest and equal to 2/5 to one-third in the length of the head : caudal forked. Free portion of the tail 

 about as high at its base as it is long. Scales — about seven rows along the preopercle. Colours — roseate, giU 

 openings deep brownish-black, or else like coagulated blood, a dark mark in the axilla. A dark vertical band 

 through the eye, sometimes confined to above the pupil. Dorsal, caudal, and anal fins with milk-white outer 

 edges ; a dark mark, often deep black, may be present or absent at the highest points of the soft dorsal and anal 

 fins, also at the tips of the caudal. R%rely there is a dark mark along the first dorsal. Outer edge of ventral 

 white. 



Myripristis Tiuntee, Cuv. and Val. vii, p. 487, was considered in the Hist. Nat. des Poissons to be identical 

 with Russell's fish, a conclusion doubted by Bleeker, whilst Dr. Gunther considers it closely allied to M. 

 pralinius, C. V. 



Habitat. — From the Red Sea and East coast of Africa, through the seas of Lidia to the Malay Archipelago 

 and beyond. The specimen figured is a little over 6 inches in length, and from Madras : my longest is llj inches 

 long. It is vpry common at Madras especially about February. 



Genus, 2 — Holocenteum, Artedi. 

 SihynchicMhys, Cuv. and Val. (yming*) ; Comiger, 



* The genns BhyncMchthys, Cut. and Val., is probably fonned of the young of sorre of these species, and is distinguished by an 

 elongated, poiated, and more or less transparent snout, the same as is perceived in some immature fresh water Indian siluroids. A small 



