FAMILY, IX— BERYC1TLE. 169 



Family, IX— BEKYCIMJ, Lowe, 



Holocentrince, pt. Swainson. 



Branchiostegals from four to eight : pseudobranchiae present. Form of body oblong 1 , or rather elevated 

 and compressed. Opereles more or less armed. Head with large muciferous cavities. Eyes large, kteral. 

 Cleft of mouth more or less oblique, extending to the sides of the muzzle. Teeth more or less villiform in 

 both jaws, and usually so on the palate. Dorsal fin, when single, having the spinous portion of less extent 

 than the soft, or with isolated spines in front of the fin : or there may be two dorsals, the first being spinous. 

 Ventrals thoracic, each with either less or more than five soft rays. Scales ctenoid, seldom bony or absent : 

 none on the head. Pyloric appendages numerous or in moderate numbers. 



SYNOPSIS OF GENERA. 



1. Myripristis. BrancHostegals seven to eight. Bones of the head serrated, no large spine at the angle 

 of the preopercle. Tropical seas. 



2. Holocentrum. BrancHostegals eight. Bones of the head serrated : a long, strong, spine at the angle of 

 the preopercle. Tropical seas. 



Genus, 1 — Mtripkistis, Cuv. 



Branchiostegals usually eight, more rarely seven : pseudobranchiae well developed. Eyes large, mostly lateral. 

 Muzzle short, lower jaw prominent. Cleft of mouth oblique, in one species horizontal. Opercular pieces serrated : 

 opercle generally with one spine, none on the preopercle. Teeth villiform on jaws, vomer, and palatines, there may be 

 an outer widely separated row of small obtusely conical ones in the jaws. Two dorsal fins, scarcely united: ventral 

 ivith one spine and seven rays : anal with four spines : caudal forked. Scales large, ctenoid. Air-vessel transversely 

 contracted near its centre. Pyloric appendages in moderate numbers. 



Although considerable prominence has been given to the presence or absence of black marks on the fins 

 in species of this genus, I am convinced that it is subject to great variation, and present or absent in the same 

 species. 



Geographical distribution. — Tropical seas. 



SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES. 



1. Myripristis botche, D. 10 ] -j-jlTe-, A. t^-ts^ L. 1. 28-30, L. tr. 3/7f. Soft dorsal, anal, and caudal black 

 edged, first dorsal also often more or less black. A dark opercular and axillary mark. East coast of Africa, 

 seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



2. Myripristis murdjan, D. 10 | T-g-Ts> &-• ts-tsj J-*. 1. 28-30, L. tr. 3§/7-§. Red, with a dark mark at the 

 gills and axilla. East coast of Africa, seas of India to the Malay Archipelago and beyond. 



1. Myripristis botche, Plate XLI, fig. 1. 



Sparus botche, Russell, Fish. Vizag. ii, p. 4, pi. cv. 



Myripristis botche, Cuv. and Val. iii, p. 181 ; (Bleeker, Perc. p. 52, Kner, Novara Fische, p. 5, t. i, f. 1, 

 not synon.)* 



Myripristis adustus, Bleeker, Amboina, p. 108, Revis. Myrip. 1871, p. 16 ; Giinther, Catal. i, p. 22 ; 

 Playfair, Fish. Zanzibar, p. 51. 



B. viii, D. 10 | t^^., P. 15, V. 1/7, A. 1 ** r? , C. 19, L. 1. 28-30, L. tr. 3/7£. 



Length of head 4/15, of caudal nearly 1/5, height of body nearly 1/3 of the total length. Eyes — 

 diameter 2\ to 2| in the length of the head, 1/2 a diameter from end of snout, and 3/4 apart or nearly 1/4 

 in the length of the head. Head slightly longer than high. Chin prominent : the maxilla, which is not 

 denticulated, reaches to below the last third of the orbit. Under surface of lower jaw roughly and irregularly 

 furrowed : pre- and sub-orbitals serrated, also both limbs of the preopercle : a moderately strong opercular 

 spine with two or three above and below it ; the lower half of the opercle, the sub- and the inter-opercles 

 serrated. Teeth — villiform. Fins — dorsal spines weak, the longest being half the length of the head : second 

 dorsal higher than the first : pectoral equals the length of the head behind the front third of the orbit : the 

 ventral reaches two-thirds of the way to the anal : fourth anal spine the longest and equalling the diameter of 

 the orbit but not so strong as the third : caudal forked. Scales — seven to eight rows anterior to the dorsal fin : 

 seven along the preopercle : two entire and two half rows between the lateral-line and the base of the dorsal 

 fin. Free portion of the tail rather higher than long. Colours — scarlet, the edges of the scales violet, more 

 especially above the lateral-line : longitudinal bands, alternately lighter and darker along each row of scales. 

 First dorsal black, or black with a light longitudinal band, or simply rose-coloured : the other fins pinkish, with 

 the outer third of the soft dorsal, anal, and caudal lobes black, which amount is sometimes reduced to a mere 



* This species has been named M. macrolepis by Bleeker, Revis. Myr. p. IS. 



