12 ACANTHOPTERTGII. 



Head, and body, as far as the base of the soft dorsal, and anal, spotted with reddish-orange or gall-stone yellow, 

 which on the head, and sometimes as far as the base of the pectoral fin, are in hexagonal blotches, divided by 

 light lines. Base of pectoral white having a black crescentic band. Under surface of the throat and chest 

 with large black marks sometimes enclosing lighter spaces. Dorsal fin with chestnut-brown spots : some white 

 ones on the caudal, and anal. 



I have dedicated this fish to the memory of my friend, and fellow worker in zoology, Dr. Ferdinand 

 Stoliczka, whose untimely death, due to excess of zeal in the cause of Natural History, is referred to in the 

 preface. 



Habitat. — Coast of Sind, very common at Aden : it attains at least 12 inches in length, the specimen 

 figured is 6 inches long. 



2. Serranus areolatus, Plate I, fig. 4. 



Perca areolata, Forsk. p. 42. 



Perca tauvina, Geoff. Descr. de l'Eg. pi. 20, fig. 1. 



Serranus taiwinus, Geoff. Poiss. d'Eg. p. 201. 



Serramis areolatus (Japonicus), Temm. Schleg. Fauna Japon. p. 8; Cuv. and Val. ii, p. 350 ; Richards., 

 Ich. China, p. 232 ; Peters, Wieg. Arch. 1855, p. 235 ; Giintker, Catal. i, p. 149 ; Klunzinger, Verh. z. b. Ges. 

 Wien, 1870, p. 675. 



Serranus chlorostigma, Cuv. and Val. ii, p. 352 ; Gunther, Catal. i, p. 151. 



B. vii, D. ^J^, P. 15, 1/5, A. I, C. 19, L. r. 105, L. tr. 19/47. 



Length of head 3/10 to 2/7, of caudal 1/6, height of body 1/4 of the total length. Eyes — diameter 1/5 to 

 1/6 of length of head, If diameters from the end of snout and 1 apart. Lower jaw the longer : the maxilla 

 reaches to below the posterior edge of the orbit. Vertical limb of preopercle oblique, serrated, and with much 

 coarser teeth at its somewhat produced angle : sub- and inter-opercles entire. Central opercular spine the most 

 developed. Teeth — small canines in both jaws, the outer row in the maxilla, and the inner in the mandible, rather 

 larger than the villiform bands. Fins — the third to the fifth dorsal spines the longest, and equal to the highest 

 rays : pectoral as long as the head behind the middle of the eyes : third anal spine 1J diameters of the orbit 

 m length, not quite so strong, but longer than the second : caudal emarginate : in some specimens the outer 

 rays are slightly produced, and the intermediate portion of the fin is cut square. Scales — slightly ctenoid. 

 Colours — reddish-brown, with hexagonal markings, formed by fine bluish- white lines, which exist over the head, 

 body, and fins, the last have dark margins edged with white. In Madras and Andaman specimens, the markings 

 an the fins are not always so distinct, whilst there is generally a white upper half to the last third of the caudal 

 fin. Sometimes the pectorals are of an uniform yellow and not marked. 



The S. chlorostigma appears to be this species, with slightly stronger teeth at the angle of its preopercle 

 than seen in typical S. areolatus, the markings are the same but lighter. 



Habitat. — Coasts of India, from the Red Sea to the Malay Archipelago, attaining a considerable size. 

 Largest specimen obtained 21 inches in length, the one figured is 9 inches. 



3. Serranus Waandersi, Plate VIII, fig. 1. 



Epinephelus Waandersi, Bleeker, Atl. Ich. Perc. t. xi, f. 3, and Epinephelini, p. 68. 



B. vii, D. H, P- 18, V. 1/5, A. f, C. 17, L. r. «£■*«> L. tr. 25/56. 



Length of head 3/11, of caudal nearly 1/6, height of body 4/15 to 1/4 of the total length. Eyes — diameter 

 2/9 (in a specimen 10 inches long) to 2/11 (in a specimen 20 inches long) of length of head, 1| diameters from ■ 

 end of snout, and from 2/3 to nearly 1 apart. The posterior extremity of the maxilla reaches to below the middle 

 of the orbit. Vertical limb of the preopercle rather strongly serrated, more especially at its angle, which is not ' 

 produced, its lower limb, as well as sub- and inter-opercles entire : three distinct opercular spines, the central 

 one being the most developed. Teeth — villiform, with an outer enlarged row in the upper and an inner in 

 the lower jaw : small canines in both jaws : a narrow band along the centre of the tongue. Fins — dorsal spines 

 of moderate length, increasing to the fourth which equals from 2/5 in the young to 1/3 in the height of the body 

 below it, rays rather higher than the spines, soft portion of the fin and also of the anal rounded : pectoral 

 longer than the ventral, and equalling the head behind the middle of the eye : anal spines rather strong, the 

 third the longest, and equal to four-fifths that of the highest in the dorsal fin : caudal cut square in the young, 

 but slightly emarginate in the adult, owing to the prolongation of the outer rays. Scales — rather strongly 

 ctenoid, and thickly covering the snout, and suborbital ring of bones, as well as the posterior half of the maxilla. 

 Colours — dark purplish, lightest on the abdomen, the whole of the head and body as low as the pectoral fin, the 

 dorsal and upper third of the caudal, covered with large closely approximating rather dark edged blotches of 

 yellow, which are rounded or hexagonal, those on the head being the smallest. Fins a little darker than the 

 body, and stained with black at their edges : dorsal with a white margin : pectoral orange, upper half of caudal 

 lighter than the lower (Male). 



I first observed this species in the Madras Museum in 1867, where it was labelled S. salmonoides. ■ I find 

 it amongst Sir Walter Elliot's drawings. Jerdon (Madr. J. L. and Sc. 1851, p. 129) remarks under the head of 

 S. suillus, " In one specimen, of which I possess a drawing, only the upper half of the caudal is spotted." 



Habitat. — Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago, attaining at least 2 feet in length, the specimen 

 figured is 10 inches long. 



