1G2 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



a light band between the fourth and sixth dorsal spines : margins of pectorals orange : caudal with a black 

 band at its base, and another in its last third having a light edge : outer two-thirds of anal blackish : free rays ■ 

 black, with white in their middle. 



This is the species observed upon by Jerdon (Madr. J. L. and Sc. 1851, p. 141,) as follows : — " I have 

 drawings and specimens of a very curious fish, which I have marked as Apistus niger, C. V. I however hardly 

 think it can belong to this genus ; it appears to me rather an aberrant form of Pterois, allied to Swainson's 

 genus Brachyrus." 



This fish is very common at Madras, attaining about 4 inches in length : the specimen figured (life-size) 

 is from that locality. 



Habitat. — Coromandel coast of India, and China. 



Genus, 15 — Synancidium, Mull. 



Buffichthys, Swains. 



Brcmchiostegals seven. Head monstrous and irregularly shaped, but without slump spines. Villiform teeth 

 on the jaws and vomer, but not on the palatines. The soft dorsal continuous with the spinous, less rays (6-9) than 

 spines (13) ; anal with 3 spines and few (5) rays : no pectoral appendages. Scales absent : body and sometimes 

 the head with shinny flaps. Air-vessel small. Pyloric appendages few. 



SYNOPSIS OF INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 



1. Synancidium horridum,~D. X f-Iy 3 , A. f. Eyes elevated: a deep saddle-shaped depression across the 

 occiput. 



1. Synancidium horridum, Plate XXXIX, fig. 3. 



Scorpcena horrida, Linn, i, p. 453 ; Bl. t. 183 ; Lacep. iii, p. 261, ii, t. 17, f. 2. 



Synanceia horrida, Bl. Schn. p. 194 ; Cuv. and Val. iv, p. 440 ; Bleeker, Verb. Bat. Gen. xxii, Scler. 

 p. 9, and Revis. Synan. 1874, p. 12. 



Scorpcena monstrosa, Gronov. ed. Gray, p. 117. 



Synanceia grossa, Gray and Hard. Ind. Zool. i, pi. 97. 



Buffichthys horrida et grossa, Swainson, Pish, ii, p. 268. 



Synanceia trachynis, Richards. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1842, ix, p. 385. 



Synancidium horridum, Mull. Akad. Wiss. 1844, p. 163 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 144 ; Kner. Novara Fische, 

 p. 119. 



B. vii, D. iJpp, P. 16, V. 1/5, A. f, C. 12, Csec. pyl. 3, Vert. 10/14. 



Length of head 1/3, of caudal 2/11 to 1/6, height of body 1/3 of the total length. Eyes — diameter 1/8 of 

 length of head, 3 diameters from end of snout. Crown of head irregularly saddle-shaped : a deep groove on the 

 cheeks, orbit raised. Teeth — villiform in the jaws and on the vomer, which last, Bleeker observes, are not 

 invariably present.* Fins— dorsal spines stiff, the three first the highest and somewhat separated from the 

 others : the vertical fin more or less enclosed in skin. Articulated fin-rays branched. Skin with numerous 

 large and small tubercles even when on the fins : some large fringed tubercles along the lower edge of preopercle 

 and preorbital. Colours — brownish-fawn colour superiorly, becoming lighter below : irregular blotches on the 

 body, and smaller ones on the fins. 



Habitat. — Seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



Genus, 16 — Synanceia, Bl. Schn. 



Synanceichthys, Bleeker. 



Branchiostegals seven. Head monstrous, irregularly shaped but spineless, no saddle-shaped fossa across the 

 occiput: no transverse elevation between the orbits, nor deep groove below the eyes. Villiform teeth on the jaws, vomer 

 and palatine bones edentulous. The soft dorsal continuous with the spinous, less rays (5-6) than spines (13-16) : 

 anal with 3 spines and few (5) rays, no pectoral appendages. Air-vessel^ present. Scales absent. Pyloric appen- 

 dages few. 



SYNOPSIS OP INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 



1. Synanceia verrucosa. D. -±_\, A. f . From the Red Sea, through those of India to the Malay 

 Archipelago and beyond. 



1. Synanceia verrucosa, Plate XXXIX, fig. 4. 

 Bl. Schn. p. 195, t. 45 ; Riipp. N. W. Fische, p. 109 ; Giinther, Catal. ii, p. 146 ; Klunz. Verh. z. b. Ges.. 

 Wien, 1870, p. 811 ; Bleeker, Revis. Syn. 1874, p. 15. 



Scorpcena brachio, Lacep. iii, pp. 259, 272, pi. 12, f. 1. 



Scorpcena brachiata, Shaw, Zool. iv, pt. 2, p. 274. 



Synanceia sanguinolenta, Ehren. Pise. t. 3. 



Synanceia brachio, Cuv. and Val. iv, p. 447 ; Bleeker, Sclerop. p. 9. 



* Of course if the presence of vomerine teeth is inconstant, the genus Synancidium (which is chiefly separated from 

 Synanceia owing to their presence) has no generic value. 



