ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 



4. Serranus labriformis. Jen. 



Plate III. 



*S'. fusco-fiavo, nigro, alboque variatus ; dorsali rvbro-marginatd ; spinis fortibus, sub- 

 cequalibus, ad apices laciniis membranaceis invest itis; dentibus aculeiformibus* valde 

 retroflexis, seriebus internis majoribus ; caninis, in maxilla superiore duobus, in in- 

 feriore qua t nor, mediocribns ; preopercido margine arcuato, vix denticulate ; oper- 

 culo mucrone imico piano, modico, armato ; squamis infra lineam lateralem ciliatis, 

 supra et in ventre Icevibus. 



B. 7; D. 11/17; A. 3/8; C. 15, &c; P. 18; V. 1/5. 

 Long. uric. 17. 



Form.' — Oblong-oval, with very much the aspect of a Labrus. The greatest depth, which is beneath 

 the commencement of the dorsal, is rather less than one-fourth of the entire length. The head 

 is large, and nearly one-third of the same. The profile, from the dorsal to the end of the 

 snout, curves gradually downwards in one continuous bend. The lower jaw projects a little 

 beyond the upper. The teeth form a broadish band of fine card in both jaws, with the inner 

 rows longer and more curved than the outer ; in the upper jaw, a little behind the anterior ex- 

 tremity, are three or four longer than the others, and curving so much backwards as almost to 

 be laid flat; at the posterior part of this jaw on each side they pass into velutine. The canines 

 are strong, but not very long ; in number two above and four below, not exactly in front, but a 

 little on each side of the middle. The teeth on the vomer and palatines are velutine. The 

 eyes are moderately large, high in the cheeks, equidistant from the upper angle of the pre- 

 opercle and the end of the snout, with a diameter rather less than one sixth the length of the 

 head : the distance between them about equals their diameter. The margin of the suborbital 

 is entire, but a little sinuous. The maxillary is large, and cut nearly square at its posterior 

 extremity : it is nearly all exposed, and reaches to beneath the posterior part of the orbit. The 

 nostrils are a little in advance of the eyes, and consist of two round openings, one before the 

 other, the posterior one being the largest. The whole head, including the lower jaw, is covered 

 with small scales, which become more minute towards the extremity of the snout, but are very 

 visible even there : there are none, however, apparent on the maxillary. The preopercle has 

 the basal angle rounded, and the ascending margin a little convex outwards, and denticulated, 

 but the denticles are minute and not very obvious. The opercle and subopercle together (the 

 line of separation between which is scarcely apparent) form a triangle. The former terminates 

 posteriorly in one flat spine, moderately developed, not reaching to the extremity of the mem- 

 branous angle by twice its own length. The lateral line, which is rather indistinct, is nearly 

 parallel to the back at a little below one-fourth of the depth. The scales on the body below 



* I have employed this term to designate the slender curved teeth, arranged in several rows, which Cuvier 

 calls en caries, or, when less numerous and rather more developed, en crochets. They much resemble the 

 prickles found on some plants. 



