298 ACANTHOPTERYGIL 



1/5 of length of head, 1 to If diameters from end of snout, and 1 apart. Body elevated and strongly compressed. 

 Cleft of mouth commences opposite the lower edge of the orbit : the maxilla reaches to below the first third of 

 the eye. Head as high as long, its anterior profile parabolic. No tubercles on forehead. Teeth — two 

 large posterior canines above the symphysis of the lower jaw. Fins — first dorsal only half as high as the 

 second, which latter equals the length of the head behind the middle of the eyes. Pectoral as long as the head. 

 Ventrals reach 1/3 of the way to the anal. Caudal rounded. Colours — head with five vertical orange stripes : 

 two irregular bands of the same colour pass along the body, breaking up into blotches, and a row of spots exists 

 along' the posterior third of the body, sometimes there is a black spot at the tip of the opercle. In my 

 specimens, which have been only five or six years in spirit, the colours have almost entirely faded. Those 

 described were observed in the recently captured fish. 



Habitat. — Andamans and Nicobars, to 2\ inches in length : is also found in the Malay Archipelago. 



2. Gobiodon erythrospilus. 



Gobius quinquestrigatus, Bleeker, Gob. p. 29, and Solor, p. 82 (not C. and V.) 

 Gobiodon Ceraviensis, Giinther, Catal. iii, p. 88 (not Bleeker). 

 Gobiodon erythrospilus, Bleeker, Gobioid. 1874, p. 22. 



D- 6 | ^frr, P. 19, V. 1/5, A. i C. 15. 



Length of head 4J to 4f, of caudal 5, height of body 3 to 3| in the total length. Eyes — diameter 3-J in 

 length of head, less than 1 diameter from end of snout, and 1/2 to 2/3 of a diameter apart. Head 

 compressed, as high as long. Cleft of mouth slightly oblique, the maxilla reaches to below the middle of the 

 eyes. No tubercles on forehead. Teeth — two small posterior canines above the symphysis of the lower jaw. 

 Fins — in some specimens the first dorsal spine is somewhat produced, otherwise the two dorsal fins are of about 

 the same height or half of that of the body. Pectoral as long as the head. Ventral reaches 1/3 of the way to 

 the anal. Caudal rounded. Colours — body brown, covered with small black spots, fins blackish. Caudal 

 sometimes with a white base, or entirely white. 



Habitat. — Ceylon, Andamans, Nicobars, to the Malay Archipelago. 



3. Gobiodon citrinus, Plate LXIV, fig. 2. 

 Gobius citrinms, Riipp. N. W. Pische, p. 139, t. xxxii, f. 4. 



Gobius coryphcenula, Blyth, P. A. S. of B., 1858, p. 272 (? Cuv. and Val. xii, p. 131.) 

 Gobiodon citrinus, Giinther, Catal. iii, p. 87 ; Klunz. Verb. z. b. Ges. Wien, 1871, p. 40. 

 Pseudogobiodon citrinus, Bleeker, Gobioides, 1874, p. 21. 



D. 6 | ,fc P. 20, V. 1/5, A. ¥ ^, C. 13. 



Length of head 4, of caudal 4|, height of body 3 to 3| in the total length. Eyes — diameter 3J in length 

 of head, 3/4 of a diameter from end of snout, and also apart. Cleft of mouth slightly oblique, commencing 

 anteriorly opposite the lower edge of the eye. Teeth — in a single row in- the upper jaw : a posterior enlarged 

 row in the lower jaw, the external of which is a lateral recurved canine. Fins — dorsals of about the same 

 height, and equalling the length of the head excluding the snout, the last rays of the second dorsal and anal 

 almost reach the base of the caudal. Pectoral as long as the head. Ventral reaches half way to the anal. 

 Caudal rounded. Colours — yellow, a blue black-edged horizontal streak goes along the bases of the dorsal and 

 anal fins, in some specimens higher than in others : there are four similar vertical bands, two descending from 

 the eye, one from the summit of the head to the opercles, and a fourth in front of the pectoral fins. A black 

 spot at the posterior extremity of the opercle. 



Habitat. — Red Sea, Andamans, and Mcobars. The specimen figured (life-size) is from the Andamans. 



Genus, 2 — Sictdium,* Cuv. and Val. 

 Sicyoptems, Gill ; Cotylopns, Guich. ; Sicydiops and Microsicydium, Bleeker. 

 Branchiostegals four : pseudobranchiee, a slit behind, the fourth gill : gill-openings of moderate width. 



* Bleeker in his revision of the Gobioides, 1874, has : — 

 Sictdiini. Moveable teeth in the gums and lips. 



a. Two rows of teeth in each jaw. 



1 . Tridentiger, Gi!l. Inner row of teeth elongated, curved, the outer having their apices dilated and tricuspidate. 



6. Teeth in the premaxillaries in a crowded row : two rows in the lower jaw, the outer of which is fine and moveable. 



2. Sicydium, Val. Teeth in premaxillaries pointed and curved : in the lower jaw the inner row is conical and very 

 unequal. Barbels on the lower jaw. 



3. Sicyopterus, Gill. Inner row of teeth in lower jaw pointed, curved, and wide apart. No barbels on lower jaw. 



a. Sicyopterus, Gill. Teeth in premaxillaries pointed, their apices neither compressed, swollen, nor incised. 

 /3. Cotylopus, Guich. Teeth in premaxillaries having their apices compressed, dilated, and bilobed. 

 y. Sicydiops, Bleeker. Teeth in premaxillaries with their apices compressed and dilated. 



4. Microsicydium, Bleeker. Teeth in premaxillaries with their apices compressed and obtuse : inner row of teeth in 

 the lower jaw small and of equal size. No scales on head or anterior portion of body. 



c. Teeth in a single row in either jaw. Scaleless. 



5. Lentipes, G\mther=Sicyogaster, Gill. Front teeth in premaxillaries tricuspidate, lateral ones simple : all simple 

 in the lower jaw. 



