ON THE ICHTHYOLOGY OF THE SEAS OP CHINA AND JAPAN. 265 



injured that I think it better to avoid attempting a minute description, especially as I have 

 not an Atlantic example of evolans at hand for comparison. 

 Hab. Seas of China and Polynesia. 



Exocjetus fasciatus, Lesueur, Jour. Ac. Nat. Sc. Philad. ii. pi. 4?. f. 2. 



Length of specimen 2-J inch. 



Sir Edward Belcher brought an Exoceetus from the sea of China which seems to belong to 

 this species, but the specimen having been preserved in salt, the colours have perished and the 

 fins are mutilated in their length. It agrees however with fasciatus in the approximation of 

 the large eye to the end of the snout, in which it differs from Ex. exiliens of Bloch (397). It 

 has also a similar degree of concavity between the eyes with that exhibited in M. Lesueur's 

 figure (fig. 2. 6) ; and there is a correspondence also in other parts. The fins look dark. 



Hab. Sea of China. 



Exoctetus monocirrhus, Richardson. Had. D. 13; A. 13; C. 15J; 

 P. 15 ; V. 6. Length of spec. 2£ inches. 



Several Exocceti having barbels have been figured, viz. Ex. nuthalii (Lesueur), furcatus 

 of Mitchell, and appendiculatus of Wood, which have a plurality of these appendages, and 

 comatus of Mitchell, which is described as having only a single one, but which agrees with 

 the others that have been named in the backward position of the ventrals resembling exiliens. 



A species with two very short barbels, inhabiting the seas of Polynesia, has the ventrals 

 placed as in Ex. mesogaster of Bloch (399), but in it the pectoral reaches only to the fore 

 part of the anal, and it is distinguished from all other Exocceti by the size and height of its 

 dorsal, which is black on the upper half. This fish was taken by Banks and Solander at 

 Otaheite, and is named in the manuscripts of the latter Ex. brachypterus. Parkinson's figure 

 of it is numbered 108. 



In a small Exoccetus, which was obtained by Sir Edward Belcher on the coast of China and 

 which we have named monocirrhus, the distance from the end of the snout to the ventrals, when 

 carried backwards, does not reach to the middle of the anal ; and the pectoral extends a little 

 beyond the base of the caudal. The eye is rather larger than that of volans, and is situated 

 at a similar distance from the end of the snout. The barbel, which is black and wrinkled, 

 springs from the end of the chin, and is flat or furrowed on the surface that applies to the mem- 

 brane between the jaws. It does not equal the head in length, but it may perhaps have lost 

 a small part of its tip. There is no trace of a minute lateral barbel such as is shown in Mr. 

 Wood's figure of appendiculatus (Journ. Ac. Sc. Phil. iv. p. 283. pi. 17. f. 2). 



Hab. Sea of China. 



Fam. Blenniidje. 

 Blennius ? auro-splendidus, Richardson. Icon. Reeves, (non Hardw.). 



It is possible that this species may be a Pholis, Petroscirtes or Salarias, but in the absence 

 of information respecting its dentition and gill-openings, we cannot say to which of the genera 

 established in the ' Histoire des Poissons' it properly belongs. It has much of the aspect of 

 a Blenny, and has a vertical face and crested head like the males of Blennius pavo, and of 

 some other species. The body is longer than of the fish just named, and the first seven dorsal 

 rays are elongated, the remainder of the fin being even. The body is wax-yellow, with a 

 brownish bar faintly indicated on the posterior part of the lateral line, and five rows of bright 

 golden specks intermingled with much smaller and more numerous black dots in seven or 

 eight rows. The head and all the fins, except the anal, are bright king's yellow. The crest 

 is dotted with black, and a bar of that hue descends from it through the eye to the corner of 

 the mouth. There is also a round black mark on the middle of the fore -part of the dorsal, 

 comprising the first four rays. The anal is reddish-orange or buff, passing into yellow at its 

 base. Length of the figure nearly 4 inches. 



Hab. Macao. 



Blennius? fasciolatoceps, Richardson. Icon. Reeves (nullo numero 

 nee Hardw.). 



This figure represents a fish having more nearly the proportions of Blennius pavo than the 

 preceding. Its head is also crested, and the dorsal perfectly even without elongated rays. 

 General colour wax-yellow, obscurely mottled, the head marked by five vertical black bands 

 on a brighter yellow ground. The second band passes through the eye, and the fifth descends 



