Ui ACANTHOPTERYGIL 



Family, VI— CIERHITID^, Gray. 



Percoidei, pt., et Sciwnoidei, pt., Cuv. : Theraponidce, pt., et Polynemidce, pt. Richardson. 



Branchiostegals three, five or six : pseudobranchiae. Body oblong and compressed. Mouth in front of 

 snout having a lateral cleft. Eyes of moderate size : cheeks not cuirassed. Teeth in the jaws villiform or 

 pointed, sometimes canines as well : vomerine and palatine teeth present or absent. A single dorsal fin com- 

 posed of spines and rays of nearly equal estent: anal with three spines. Lower pectoral rays simple, and 

 generally thickened : ventrals thoracic, at some distance from the insertion of the pectorals, and having one 

 spine and five rays. Scales cycloid : lateral-line continuous. Air-vessel absent, or with many appendages. 

 Pyloric appendages few. 



Geographical distribution. — Tropical seas, likewise in the temperate parts of the South Pacific. 



SYNOPSIS OP GENERA. 



1. Cirrhites. Branchiostegals six. Opercle unarmed. No teeth on the palatines. Seas of India to the 

 Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



2. Cirrhitichthys. Branchiostegals six. Opercle with spines. Teeth on the palatines. Seas of India to 

 the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



Genus, 1 — Cirrhites, (Gomm.) Cuv. 



Amblycirrhitus, Gill ; Paracirrhites, Bleeker.* 



Branchiostegals six. Preopercle denticulated : opercle unarmed. Villiform teeth in both jaws : canines 

 generally present : teeth on the vomer, none on the palatines. A single dorsal fin with ten spines : the lower five to 

 seven pectoral rays are unbranched. Scales of moderate size. Air-vessel absent. Pyloric appendages few. 



SYNOPSIS OP SPECIES.f 



1. Cirrhites Forsteri, D. -^a, P. 7+ VII, A. -§, L. 1. 50. Head and chest with black spots : a broad brown 

 or black band from the head to the upper half of the tail, and a yellow one below it. East coast of Africa, seas 

 of India. 



2. Cirrhites fasciatus, D. if, P. 9 + V, A. -§. Greyish, vertically banded with darker : white spots on 

 head and nape. Pondicherry. 



1. Cirrhites Forsteri, Plate XXXV, fig. 4. 



Perca tceniata, Forster, Descrip. Anim. p. 224. 



Gha/mmistes Forsteri, Bl. Schn. p. 191. 



Sparus pantherinus, Lacep. iv, p. 160, t. vi, fig. 1. 



Cirrhites pantherinus, Cut. and Val. iii, p. 70 ; Less. Vov. Coq. Poiss. p. 225, pi. 22, fig. 1 ; Bleeker, 

 Banda, p. 232. 



Gerranus Tanhervillce, Bennett, Ceylon, p. 27, p. 27. 



Cirrhites Forsteri, Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 71, and Garrett's Fische d. Sudsee, t. xliv, A ; Gill, Proc. Am. 

 Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil. 1862, p. 112 ; Klunz. Verh. z. b. Ges. Wien, 1870, p. 797. 



Ambly cirrhites Forsteri, Bleeker, Ned. T. Dierk. iii, p. 175. 



Paracirrhites Forsteri, Bleeker, Cirrh. 1874, p. 6. 



B. vi, D. if, P. 7+VII, V. 1/5, A. |, C. 15, L. 1. 50, L. tr. 5/13, Caec. pyl. 4, Vert. 10/16. 



Length of head 3| to 1/4, of caudal 1/7, height of body 3j to 3| in the total length. Eyes — diameter 



* Genus Oxycirrhites, Bleeker, has the premaxillary produced a considerable distance in front of the mouth. ' Genus Paracir- 

 rhites has the scales on the cheeks large and regularly imbricated, and those on the body smaller ; whereas in Cirrhites the scales on the 

 body are large, and those on the cheeks small. 



j- I have not included C. punctaius, C. and V. iii, p. 70, which Dr. Giinther (in Catal. ii, p. 72) states comes from the "Indian 

 Ocean ?" as in the ' Histoire Naturelle des Poissons,' its locality is not given. In the British Museum Catalogue the existence of one 

 specimen is thus recorded, " a, Adult : stuffed. Sine patria." On the stand this is now marked " W. Indies." The specimen is as 

 follows. 



D. if, P. 7+VII, V. 1/5, A. |, C. 16, L. r. 42, L. tr. 5/10. 



Length of head 3§, of caudal 2/11, height of body 3 J of the total length. Eyes — diameter 2/9 of length of head, 1 J diameters 

 from end of snout, and 2/3 of a diameter apart. Vertical limb of preopercle finely serrated. Interorbital space deeply convex. A short 

 tentacle at the anterior nostril. Fins — fifth dorsal spine the longest, equalling the length of the rays, or 2J the height of the body : 

 second anal spine much the longest, equalling the highest in the dorsal tin. 



