1148 Catalogue of Malayan Fishes. [Nov. 



In the one examined, the length of the entire fourth dorsal ray 

 did not exceed that of the first ventral, whereas it commonly projects 

 beyond the caudal fin. The figure of Russell is defective in not 

 representing the loose membrane attached to the superior concave 

 margin of the large spine, nor the dentitions of the margins of the 

 preopercle. 



Gen. Platax, Cuvier 1817. 

 Teeth setaceous, external series trilobate ; body very compressed 

 and high ; dorsal spines few, hid in the anterior margin of the fin ; 

 anterior rays of dorsal, anal and ventral fins elongated, in some falciform. 

 Platax vespertilio, (Bloch). 

 Adult. 

 Chsetodon vespertilio, Bloch. PI. 199, Fig. 2. 

 Chsetodon vespertilio, Linne, Syst. 1257. 

 Chsetodon vespertilio, Shaw, IV. 344. 

 Platax vespertilio, Cuv. R. A. 1817 II. 334, ( 3 ). 

 Platax vespertilio, Ruppell: Atlas, 143 (Verzeichniss) Note 5. 

 Platax vespertilio, Cuv. R. A. 1829, 193, ('). 

 Platax blochii, Cuv. and Val. VII. 22. 



Platax vespertilio japonicus, Temm. and Schl. Faun. Jap. Pisces, 83, 



Tab. XLIII. 

 Platax vespertilio, Richardson, Report 1845, 245. 

 Platax blochii, Bleeker : Verh. Batav. Gen. XXII. 5. 

 Head and body pale bluish silvery brown, lighter on the cheeks, 

 opercles, throat, sides and abdomen ; the scales minutely dotted and 

 edged with blackish brown, and sometimes with a few scattered small 

 dark spots on the sides ; the ocular, pectoral and caudal band indis- 

 tinct ; basal half of dorsal and anal fins like the body ; upper half 

 blackish ; the rays whitish ; caudal pale greyish transparent ; posterior 

 margin blackish ; ventrals blackish ; pectoral rays brownish yellow, 

 with a broad brownish band at the base. Iris brownish golden, verti- 

 cally divided by the ocular band. 



D 5/36, 37, 38 or 39, C. 17|, A 3/25, 26, 27 or 28, V 1/5, P 17 or 



18, Br. VI. 

 Habit. — Sea of Pinang, Malayan Peninsula, Singapore. 



Isle of France, Red Sea, Ceylon, Bay of Bengal, China 

 Sea, Japan, New Guinea, Amboina, Java, Madura. 

 Total length : 7 inch. 



