88 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



and rounded angle : it is serrated in its whole extent, but the character of these serrations alters considerably 

 with age. In the young, 8. torquatus, the serrations are moderately coarse and directed backwards, sometimes 

 a small cusp exists at the base of some, at other times it does not, the vertical limb and rounded angle may be 

 said to be serrated, the serrations being directed backwards. As the size of the specimen augments, 8. Ja/porrims, 

 we find that these basal cusps begin to be more distinctly developed, and a blunt one as a rule is present at the 

 base of every serration, in some specimens the posteriorly directed teeth now begin to disappear. As the adult, 

 8. auratus, is reached the appearance becomes remarkable, the posteriorly directed serrations on the vertical 

 limb (not on the angle) have become absorbed, and the cusps at their bases have augmented in size and 

 consequently the serrations project outwards instead of backwards. Opercle with a moderately developed spine. 

 Teeth — generic. Fins — dorsal spines strong, each alternate one being broader, they increase in length to the 

 fourth or fifth, from whence they continue of about the same height, or equal to about half the length of the 

 head, whilst the rays are of about the same height. Pectoral equal to the length of the head posterior to the 

 nostrils : ventral almost reaching the anus. Anal spines strong, the third nearly equal to the highest in the 

 dorsal fin but one-fourth shorter than the second in a specimen 8f inches in length ; in younger specimens the 

 difference in length is sometimes not so great, in such cases the second spine is generally the longer, as will be 

 alluded to : caudal forked. Colours — adult of a pale dull-red, usually having a whitish band round the 

 opercles, from the upper edge of which bone a longitudinal wide line of the same colour passes backwards 

 below the lateral-line, being lost beneath the end of the base of the dorsal fin. Every scale on the body has 

 generally a dark basal mark. In the medium size fish, S. Japonicus, the ground colour is often the same as 

 given for the adult, but in others it is of an ashy grey : the opercular band is generally distinct and of a cream- 

 yellow colour. A deep arterial blood-red spot exists behind the opercular spine, and the fins are of a pale 

 yellow. In the young, 8. torquatus, the band of the opercles is very distinct and of a light lemon-yellow colour, 

 whilst the blood-red spot behind the opercular spine is very well marked : the inside of the mouth is likewise red. 

 If we divide this fish into three distinct species merely in accordance with the colours observed, the 

 difficulty arises amongst specimens from India, of ability to discover any very young 8. auratus or S. Japonicus, 

 unless the 8. torquatus is admitted to be such. Of course, however, it is by no means improbable that some im- 

 mature might from the first adopt the livery seen in the adult, but such a mere anomaly would be insufficient to 

 constitute a valid species. In Cuvier and Valenciennes, it is observed that Ruppell's figure of 8. Jcit/rite, does not 

 show such an emargination of the preopercle as is exhibited in Russell's, this however appears to have been 

 merely an accident. The question of the direction of the preopercular serrations deserves however more 

 consideration, and it was not until I had collected a large number of specimens of all ages and examined those 

 in the British and Madras Museums, that I arrived at the conviction that such were merely due to maturity or 

 the reverse of the specimen. In the young, although the serrations project backwards, they have a small cusp 

 at their base, which, did it grow, would project outwards : in middle age this outer projection increases in 

 development whilst the posterior one shows signs of atrophy : in the adult stage the change is completed, the 

 earliest serrations have become almost or entirely absorbed, the original basal cusp has developed into an 

 outwardly directed serration, having sometimes the original ones in the form of a backwardly projecting cusp at 

 the base of each. 



Bleeker, I. e. places 8. torquatus as nearly allied but distinct from 8. Vosmeri, being distinguished from it 

 by a more convex profile, a larger head, larger eyes and a lower anal fin. In colours by an absence of the light 

 lateral band and a purple triangular spot at the base of the pectoral fin. He gives in 8. torquatus length of head 

 4 to 4|-, height of body 2§ to 3 in the total length ; eyes, diameter 2 to 2^ in the length of head : in the S. 

 Vosmeri, length of head 4j to 4f , height of body 2| to 3 in the total length ; eyes, diameter 2f to 3 in the 

 length of head. 



PL xxiii, fig. 1, represents a specimen of 8. torquatus, life-size, no longitudinal band exists and the pectoral 

 blotch is distinct, but the comparative length of the second anal spine is as great as in any specimen of the 

 typical 8. Vosmeri, which I have seen. In four other specimens 6, 6^, 6^, and 7 inches respectively in length, 

 the second anal spine is only 1/2 the length of the head. Therefore variations do exist, and to prove such I 

 have figured (PI. xxiii, fig. 2) an intermediate form, 6i inches in length, which agrees with Bleeker's torquatus. 

 Habitat. — Red Sea, East coast of Africa, seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond, attaining 

 at least 12 inches in length. 



8. Scolopsis leucotaenia, Plate XXIII, fig. 4. 



Scolopsides leucotamia, Bleeker, Banka, p. 451, Atl. Ich. Perc. t. xvi, fig. 4, and Revis. Scolop. p. 351 ; 

 Giinther, Catal. i, p. 363. 



Scolopsides leucotcenioides, Bleeker, Celebes, p. 439 ; Giinther, Catal. i, p. 363. 



B. v, D. y>, P. 17, V. 1/5, A. f, L. 1. 39, L. tr. 31/13. 



Length of head equals one fourth less than the height of the body. Eyes — diameter 2/5 of length of head, 

 1/2 a diameter from end of snout, and 1 apart. Interorbital space flat: dorsal profile more convex than that of 

 the abdomen. Cleft of mouth somewhat oblique : the maxilla reaches to below the first third of the orbit. 

 Preorbital one-third as high as the diameter of the eye, its spine weak, and the hind edge of the plate with a 

 few indistinct serrations : suborbital ring of bones serrated. Vertical Umb of preopercle slightly emarginate, 

 serrated along its whole extent but most coarsely so at its rounded angle. Shoulder-bone serrated. Teeth— fine. 





