990 Catalogue of Malayan Fishes. [Oct. 



all indistinct and of a shade but slightly darker than the ground colour ; 

 lower half of the sides diluted reddish brown, becoming whitish on the 

 abdomen ; fins reddish brown, darker than the body from their numer- 

 ous indistinct spots, the largest of which along the back between the 

 dorsal spines ; upper margin of the dorsal membrane black ; all the 

 spines greyish brown. Iris reddish brown, with a narrow golden ring. 



D 11/17, C 17-f, A 3/8, V 1/5, P. 17, Br. VII. 



Habit. — Sea ofPinang. 



Isles of Borabora and Oualan, South Pacific. 



Total length : 7f inch. 



The length of the head is 3£ of the total ; the vertical diameter at 

 occiput is f of the length of the head ; the greatest oblique diameter 

 of the orbit is about 4^ of the length of the head ; the margin of the 

 preopercle is rounded, the ascending part strongly toothed, the three 

 lowest teeth larger than the rest ; of the three spines of the opercle 

 the upper one is the smallest, and the centre one the largest, its length 

 equalling f of the diameter of the eye ; the membranous portion of the 

 opercle is elongated to a sharp point. The upper maxillary teeth are 

 preceded on each side by a single curved canine, inside of which appear 

 several pointed teeth, conspicuously longer than all the rest. The lower 

 maxillaries have two canines on each side of the symphysis. All the 

 fins are rounded ; the dorsal spines are rather slender and a little shorter 

 than the soft rays ; the second anal spine is longer and stronger than 

 any of the other spines, its length equalling the extent of the base of 

 the anal fin. The greatest vertical diameter of the body slightly 

 exceeds J of the total length. 



The stomach is moderate, coriaceous, particularly near the fundus ; 

 the appendicula ccecopylorica are of equal length, about f inch ; the 

 length of the intestinal canal is a little less than the total. This spe- 

 cies, of which a single individual occurred at Pinang in 1845, agrees 

 with the description of Serranus stellans, Richardson, which the au- 

 thor later referred to S. hexagonatus. In the Pinang specimen the 

 dark spots disappeared shortly after death, leaving behind a uniform 

 reddish brown colour. 



Serranus lanceolatus, (Bloch.) 



Holocentrus lanceolatus, Bloch. PI. 242, Fig. 1. 



Holocentrus lanceolatus, Shaw. IV. 567. 



