302 report— 1845. 



cardiform ; those on the tongue are very strong. The ground colour of the back is a mottled 

 mixture of greenish-gray and yellow, varied by fifteen or sixteen transverse bars composed of 

 small spots of umber-brown. These bars are irregular on the top of the back, but they descend 

 below the lateral line, and are there more distinct, from the intervening spaces being gam- 

 boge-yellow. The belly is brightly silvery. The head is varied by many spots of umber-brown, 

 the jaws being also much spotted. The caudal is pale orange-brown, with about nine trans- 

 verse bars thickly*spott#d with umber. The other fins are more or less deeply yellowish-brown 

 with five or six rows of darker spots on the rays, except the pectorals, which do not appear 

 to be spotted. 



The Dentex nebulosus (Banks and Solander, Parkinson, Icon. 113. Bib. Banks), which 

 frequents the seas of Otaheite, has considerable resemblance to this species. 



Hub. Seas of China and the Mauritius. 



Saurus argyrophanes, Richardson. Icon. Reeves, (3. 15; Hardw. Malac. 

 Chinese name, Kin lin chuy, " Silk-scaled chuy" (Birch); Kin lin cheuy, 

 "Silver-scaled cheup" (Reeves) ; Kam lunchui (Bridgem. Chrest. 165). 

 Bad. D. 9* ; A. 11*; V. 9 (ex figura). Length of figure 10 inches. 



This, judging from the drawing, is a more elongated species than the preceding ones, the 

 height of the body scarcely exceeding a seventh of the total length. The eye is moderately 

 large, and is situated over the middle of the cleft of the mouth. The pectorals, which are not 

 large, reach just to the front of the ventrals, and the dorsal commences over the axilla of the 

 latter fins. The caudal is forked as in the preceding two species, without any middle lobe. 

 The lateral line is strongly marked, and one of the most distinctive characters of the fish ap- 

 pears to be the strong contrast between the colours above and below the line, the upper parts 

 being a decided yellowish-brown, darker on the edges of the scales, producing reticulations, and 

 the lower parts bright silvery, the two tints being exactly defined by the lateral line, which is 

 darker than the other parts. The head is mostly coloured like the back. There are no spots 

 either on the body or fins, but the ends of the pectorals and the posterior edge of the caudal 

 are blackish. 



Sir Edward Belcher's collection contains a Saurus which I should be inclined to refer to the 

 species represented by Mr. Reeves's drawing, but for the greater acuteness of the snout of the 

 specimen. They correspond in colours and position of the fins. In this specimen the height 

 of the body is inferior to its width, and is contained about eight times in thetotal length. The 

 back is rounded and depressed, and the thickness diminishes gradually from the dorsal fin to 

 the tip of the acute snout, and also in the other direction to the slender tail, which is round near 

 the base of the caudal fin. The jaws are equal. The cleft of the mouth exceeds half the di- 

 stance from the tip of the snout to the edge of the gill-cover. The centre of the eye is rather 

 behind the middle of the cleft, and the length of the head exceeds a fifth part of the whole 

 length, or more exactly forms a fourth part of the length, caudal excluded. The eyes encroach 

 on the profile and are about a diameter apart, the edges of the orbits being deficient or notched 

 above. The interorbital space is concave. The occiput ends in a serrated edge, which is 

 slightly concave posteriorly, and the supra-scapulars also show a projecting rough edge. 

 The fronts of the ventrals are attached exactly midway between the tip of the snout and the 

 vent. The tips of the pectoral reach just to their first ray, and the commencement of the 

 dorsal is a little behind the axilla of the ventrals. The rays are B. 12-13 ; D. 10 ; A. 12 ; 

 C. 17^; P. 13; V. 8. The lateral line is straight and is formed by a series of pores; there 

 are also a number of lines parallel to it, produced by the transparency of the scales, permitting 

 the meeting of the edges of two rows to shine through the discs of the intervening incumbent 

 row. The teeth are slender with lanceolate tips, but none of them appear to be distinctly 

 barbed. In the upper jaw, the tall ones are inclined forwards and are ranged in a widely-set 

 series, with some shorter ones at the base. In the lower jaw there are several graduated rows 

 inclined inwards, the interior row being the tallest. The palatine teeth form card-like plates 

 which approach each other anteriorly in an acute angle, leaving a narrow smooth space on the 

 mesial line. The surface of the tongue is also armed by rows of teeth, but smaller than any 

 of the others we have mentioned. The edges of the branchial arches are rough, with much 

 more minute teeth, very dissimilar to the slender, curved and barbed teeth of the gills of 

 Harpodon. 



JIab. Most probably the China seas. 



Mvctopiium boops, Richardson, Ichth. of Voy.of Erebus and Terror, p. 39. 

 pi. 27. f. G-12. 



* The incumbent front ray of these Iks is omitted in the figure, and the formula ought 

 to be D. 10 ; A. 12, &c. 



