SO ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



tlieeolours would considerably resemble those of Imeatum; the three upper bands would only have to be conjoined 

 and continued on to the dorsal fin, when albomttatum would be reproduced. But Bleeker observes that the 

 scales are L. r. yy, and more than are found in Imeatum or Lessonii : were it not for that fact, one would 

 almost feel inclined to agree with Dr. Gimtker, and place it as another synonym of Imeatum. 



It is very desirable that some one residing where these fishes are to be obtained in quantities, as Sind 

 or the Andamans, would bring together a large number, of all sizes, at different seasons of the year, carefully 

 examine the sexes, and the number of their CEecal appendages whilst they are in a fresh state, making a comparison 

 between all the differently coloured ones, the result I anticipate would be, as in the Sen-ami, that a conclusion 

 must be arrived at, that there are many varieties but comparatively few species. 



Habitat. — Red Sea, seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. The specimen figured was 

 given me by Dr. Shortt, Inspector General of Vaccination for the Madras Presidency, who received it whilst 

 fresh at Cuddalore in 1867. Personally I never obtained a specimen of this genus along the Coromandel coast. 



3. Diagramma Orientale, Plate XX, fig. 6. 



Aniliias Orientalis, Bloch. t. 326, fig. 3 ; Bl. Schn. p. 306. 



Lutjanus aurantius, Lacep. iv, p. 239. 



Serranus Orientalis, Cuv. and Val. ii, p. 318. 



Diagramma pica, Cuv. and Val. v, p. 297; Giinther, Catal. i, p. 326, and Fische d. Sudsee, p. 27, 

 t. xxii, fig. A. 



Diagramma Orientale, Cuv. and Val. v, p. 299, pi. 124 ; Bleeker, Verh. Bat. Gen. xxiii, Sciam. p. 23 ; 

 Giinther, Catal. i, p. 326 and Fische d. Sudsee, p. 28, taf. xxii, fig. B and C. 



Diagramma Sibbaldii, Bennett, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 182. 



Pledorliynclms Orientalis, Swains. Fish, ii, p. 218 ; Bleeker, Atl. Ich. Perc. t. xxviii, fig. 3, and Revis. 

 Plectorh. p. 295. 



B. vi, D. ^Jb, P. 17, V. 1/5, A. f, C. 17, L. r. W, &■ <*■ 13/25. 



Length of head from 3/13 to 2/9, of caudal 1/6 to 1/7, height of body 2/7 of the total length. Eyes — 

 diameter from 1/3 to 2/7 of length of head, 1 diameter from the end of snout. Dorsal profile much more convex 

 than the abdominal : profile of head parabolic. The maxilla reaches to below the front third of the orbit : the 

 depth of the preorbital nearly equals the diameter of the eye. Vertical limb of preopercle serrated, its angle 

 not produced. Teeth — generic. Fins — dorsal spines of moderate' strength, every alternate one strongest on one 

 side, the second nearly as high as the third which is the longest in the fin and equals from half to two-fifths of 

 the height of the body, the last being from one-third to one-half shorter : soft portion of the fin gradually 

 increasing in height, its middle third being higher than the spinous. Pectoral as long as the head without the 

 snout : ventral reaching three-fourths of the distance to the anal, the second spine of which latter fin is 

 stronger and longer than the third, equalling the length of the head posterior to the middle of the eye : caudal 

 rounded or cut rather square. Colours — yellowish superiorly, becoming white on the sides and beneath, the body 

 with several chestnut bands nearly or quite as wide as the ground-colour. There may be four or five complete 

 or interrupted horizontal bands along the snout and head, which form three or four on the body : the highest 

 going to the base of the spinous dorsal : the second, usually interrupted, to the first two-thirds of the base of the soft 

 dorsal : the third bifurcating beyond the end of the pectoral fin divides into two, the superior, often interrupted, 

 going to the upper portion of the caudal fin, and the inferior to its lower portion, on the caudal these two bands 

 gradually approximate or even coalesce, and are so continued to the centre of the fins termination : the lowest 

 body band goes from below the pectoral fin to the end of the base of the anal. Spinous dorsal with a narrow 

 dark upper edge : a dark angular band along its base, which is anteriorly two-thirds as high as the spines, but 

 ending in a point at the base of the last spine : a similar wedge-shaped band exists on the soft dorsal, its base 

 being along the origin of the first ten or twelve rays and its apex at the upper termination of the same rays. 

 Pectoral yellowish, with a dark blotch covering all but its margin : a black band along the middle of the 

 anal and an oblique one across either lobe of the caudal, the lower being sometimes divided into two, or having 

 a light spot in its centre. 



The Orientale figured in Bloch, Cuv. and Val., and in Garrett's Fische d. Sudsee shows much of the 

 colouring of D. pica : — a band passes vertically from the upper surface of the head behind the eye to the angle of 

 the mouth, and from it proceeds a wide single horizontal one along the body which is more or less interrupted 

 but eventually constitutes a central caudal band : from this lateral band one may proceed directly upwards and 

 form the basal blotch on the spinous dorsal, or it may be interrupted in this course ; a second band proceeds 

 upwards and forms the blotch on the soft dorsal : a lower band likewise proceeds from the base of the pectoral 

 to the end of the anal joining the band on that fin : the marks on the fins are as in the first variety. 



That this species is very closely related to D. lineatum is apparent : its colouring is evidently a 

 modification of identical bands somewhat differently disposed. The dorsal spines however differ, and to judge 

 by this question solely would cause Bennett's figure of Bodian Cuvier, p. 13, fig. 13, to be a Diagramma with 

 much the form of Orientale and the colouring of D. lineatum. Cantor indeed observes of it, " in the absence 

 of a detailed description * * the species cannot be determined." 



Habitat. — Red Sea, seas of India, to the Malay Archipelago, and beyond. 



