26 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. SAMAEANG. 



The very tender, pointed pectorals, are sustained by about eleven rays. Between them 

 the belly bulges a little. The back is furnished with a numerous series of short, sub- 

 ulate, acute rays, each having a short membrane in its axilla, and being destitute of joints, 

 but shrivelling as they dry, and without pungency. They can be traced from the occipital 

 crescent of the cranium to within an inch of the hair-like point of the tail, but as this has been 

 injured by handling, their exact termination could not be determined. The tip of the tail 

 under a high magnifying power showed no vestige of caudal rays, but its surface being 

 somewhat abraded, the absence or presence of dorsal or anal rays on it could not be deter- 

 mined. The anal rays commence at the verge of the anus, and are considerably larger and 

 more numerous than the dorsal ones. They are also unjointed, but one or two of them in 

 the middle of the series, where they are longest, are split at the tips. A low continuous mem- 

 brane connects their bases, and probably originally extended to their tips, but if so, it has, 

 from its delicacy, been in great part destroyed. A fine groove running along the middle 

 height of the body represents the lateral line. Mr. Adams has noted the colours of the 

 recent fish as being dull white, with dark brown spots, and the head as having a pink tint. 

 The spots are small, and mostly confined to the ventral surface, very few rising above the 

 lateral line. Under the lens their borders appear radiated. The skin is quite scaleless. 

 Length, 14 inches. 



Hab. Southern Atlantic. 



CIRRHITES ARCATA, Cuv. et Val. Hist, des Poiss. 



Perca? areata, Solander, MSS. A. 64. 



Radii.— Br. 5 ; D. 10|11 ; A. 3|6 ; C. lof ; P. 8 et VI.; V. l|5. 



Plate V. Fig. 3-5. 



This fish is described in the Histoire des Poissons by the specific name which we have 

 adopted, though the preferable orthography is arquata or arcuata. In Solander's MSS. the 

 word appears to be areata, and the following is his account of the species: — 



" Perca areata (" Pahulhu-t'aeo "). Piscis glaucus, area lata a medio pisce ad caudam 

 per lineam lateralem e rubicundo aurantiaca. Pone oculum arcus oblongus aurantiacus, limi- 

 tibus rubris, inferiore in lamina postremd operculorum litura tres lutea. Margo infimus 

 lamina operculorum branchiarum aurantiacus, carina jugidi nigricans. Apex labii inferioris 

 flavus. Striga Jlava, supra mandibulam superiorem. Pinna ventrales pone pinnas pectorales. 

 Narium apertura antica tubidosa, saturatissime aurantiaca. Iris argentea. Pupilla oblonga 

 nigra. Pinna sordide lutescentes, exceptd pinna caudali qua in medio glauca. Squama 

 majuscula. In multis similis Perc^; mund^e." — Solander, 1. c. 



The various-coloured lines mentioned by Solander can still be distinctly traced on our 

 specimens. The length of the head is contained thrice and one-third in the total length of 



