1849.] Catalogue of Malayan Fishes. 1151 



Platax teira, Riippell : Atl. 68. 



Platax teira, Cuv. and Val. 226. 



Platax teira, Riippell : Neue Wirbelth. Fische 33, 37. 



Young. Ground colour of the body, dorsal, anal and ventral fins 

 pale silvery whitish, the scales edged with blackish brown or deep 

 purple ; opercles, throat and abdomen bluish white, minutely dotted with 

 black ; from the occiput, through the iris over the ventral soft fin a 

 blackish band ; a second from the anterior margin of the dorsal fin, 

 spreading over the dorsal spines, continuing vertically over the posterior 

 part of the opercle to the abdomen ; a third over the posterior part of 

 the dorsal, the body and the anal fin and over the base of the caudal ; 

 the rest of the caudal and the pectorals whitish. Iris pale golden, ver- 

 tically divided by the ocular band. 



Older. The vertical bands very indistinct ; dorsal, anal and ventral 

 fins bluish black or brown; caudal greyish brown, the margin blackish. 

 Iris blackish or brownish with a narrow golden ring round the pupil. 



D 5/31 or 32, C 17|, A 3/23, 24 or 25, V 1/5, P 17, Br. VI. 



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

 Red Sea, Malabar, Bay of Bengal. 



Total length : 8 inch. 



The greatest height equals the length of the body, the caudal fin 

 not included; the latter, as also the head, being \ of the total length. 

 The elongation of the anterior rays of the dorsal, anal and ventral fins 

 is comparatively greater in young than in older individuals ; in all, 

 however, it is liable to considerable individual variations. The dorsal 

 and anal are either equal or differing : in the young their greatest 

 elongation exceeds by \ the greatest height of the body. The ven- 

 trals often differ among themselves : in the young their greatest length 

 does not exceed the greatest height of the body, in older ones it 

 slightly exceeds one half of that distance. On each side of the lower 

 jaw appear three small distant pores. At Pinang smaller individuals 

 occur at all seasons ; larger ones are less frequent. 



Platax arthriticus, Cuv. and Val. 



Ecan bonna, Bell : Philosoph. Transact. 1793. 



Chsetodon arthriticus, Cuv. and Val. VII. 229. 



Head, back, sides, dorsal, caudal and anal fins dull chocolate brown 

 or lead coloured, in some largely marbled with dark brown ; abdomen 



7 i 



