FISH. 



101 



Fokm. — Head large : body of a suboval form, but much elongated : greatest depth at the nape con- 

 tained about four times and three quarters in the entire length : head not quite three times and 

 three quarters in the same. Nape and forehead high, whence the profile descends obliquely 

 in a straight line to the end of the snout. Jaws equal, and rather acute : lips fleshy : the end 

 of the maxillary not quite reaching to a vertical line from the anterior margin of the orbit. 

 Four very conspicuous, strong, curved, canine teeth at the anterior extremity of each jaw ; 

 those above of nearly equal length, but the two middle ones rather longer and stouter than the 

 other two; of those below, on the contrary, the outer ones are the longest, as well as 

 strongest, being nearly twice as much developed as the middle ones, which last are of about the 

 same length as, but rather slenderer than, the outer ones above. The teeth at the sides of the 

 jaw are short and conical, and not very sharp pointed, forming a regular series ; below they 

 amount to nine or ten on each side ; above, the series may have been originally of the same 

 number, but in this specimen several appear wanting. Besides these conical teeth at the 

 sides of the jaws, there is an inner band of small rounded grains about the size of pins' 

 heads : the band is broader, and the grains larger and more distinct above than below : many 

 of them appear much flattened, and as if ground down by use. Eyes of moderate size ; their 

 diameter about one-seventh the length of the head ; rather high in the cheeks, and nearly 

 equidistant from the end of the snout and the posterior angle of the opercle. Snout and sub- 

 orbital in advance of the eyes, as well as the jaws, naked. Preopercle large ;- occupying 

 the posterior half of the cheek, rectangular, but the angle at bottom much rounded, the ascend- 

 ing margin vertical, both margins entire ; covered with small scales ; the limb rather broad, 

 bounded internally by a slightly raised ridge, and without scales, but with a few scattered 

 small pores. The opercle and subopercle form together an irregular oblong, of which the 

 height is double the length ; both are covered with scales larger than those on the preopercle : 

 the membrane terminates behind in a blunt angle. The interopercle, which is very distinct, 

 has three rows of scales on its surface, but none on the margin. 



The lateral line is nearly straight throughout its course, the bend downwards beneath the 

 termination of the dorsal fin being scarcely perceptible. The tubes of which it is com- 

 posed are unbranched ; many of them, however, incline upwards at their posterior extremity 

 towards the back. The scales on the body are rather larger than those on the opercle: there 

 appear to be upwards of fifty in a longitudinal line. The free portion of each scale has its sur- 

 face finely granulated in the middle, and striated at the sides. 



The dorsal commences rather before one-third of the entire length, excluding caudal, and 

 occupies a space equalling nearly half the same ; the spinous portion is low, and the spines 

 of nearly the same length, the first and second only being rather shorter than the suc- 

 ceeding ones ; the membrane between the spines notched : the soft portion rather pointed, and 

 twice as much elevated as the spinous. The anal commences beneath the eleventh or twelfth 

 dorsal spine, and terminates in the same vertical line with that fin ; the soft portion, which 

 answers to the soft portion of the dorsal, is preceded by three spines, increasing in length to the 

 third, which is double the first, though itself not above half the length of the soft rays ; these 

 spines are not particularly stout. The space between the anal and caudal equals one-sixth of 

 the whole length. Caudal rays nearly even, with the exception of the two outermost above 

 and below, which being rather longer than the others, give the fin a slightly crescent-shaped 

 form : the base of the caudal is scaly, but the scales advance only a very little way between 



