780 
EISHES OF imiA. 
The figure of Serranus altivelis in Cnv. and Yal. ii, pi. xxxv^ shows the spines of the 
dorsal fin increasing in length to the last which is delineated nearly twice as long as the 
second. Cantor, “Malayan Fishes,” fonnd these spines from the third to be of nearly 
equal length. Bleeker shows them slightly, bnt gradually increasing to the last, which is 
figured one-fifth longer than the third. I have observed them more corresponding with 
Cantor’s description, bat all have been small specimens. Still the foregoing show that 
differences do exist in the length of these spines, that augmenting from the third to the 
last is not universally carried out in the same way. In altivelis the length of the third 
dorsal spine is about ^ of that of the head, in the larger gihlosus 15 inches long it is 2^, 
and in the still larger striolatus 
Page 12. Sereantjs areolatus. Add to synonymy. 
? ,, ,, wandersi, Bleeker, Atl. Ich. vii, p. 47, Perc. t. iii, f. 1. 
,, „ geoffroyi, Klunz. Fische Bothen Meere^ p. 3. 
„ ,, multipunctatus, Koss. u. Raub. p. 6. 
Klunzinger considers Perea areolata, Forsk., to be identical with Serranus angularis, C. Y. 
Page 13. Serranus undulosus. 
Steindachner considers that among the synonyms of this fish may be included Serranus 
acutirostris, C. and Yah, 8 . fuscus, Lowe, 8 . tinea, Cantraine and 8 . macrogenis, Savi. 
Page 16. Serranus tumilabris. Omit from synonyms. 
„ ,, summana Cuv. and Yal. : Riippel : and Lefeb. 
„ „ tumilalris, Cuv. and Yal. : Gunther Catalog. 
Add Antliias argus, Bloch, t. cccvii. 
Page 17. Serranus diacanthus. Add synonym. 
Ppineplielus retouti, Bleeker, Fish. Madagascar, p. 21, pi. xii, f. 1. 
Page 19. For Serranus malabaricus read S. pantherinus. Add synonym. 
? Holoeentrus malaharieus, Bl. Schn. 
Page 21. Serranus morrhua. Add to synonymy. 
Serranus frmopercularis, Boulenger, P. Z. S. 1887, p. 654. 
As I have remarked, and likewise figured, the young of this species has broad white bands, 
whereas, as it becomes older, it is brown with narrow black lines, which were the original 
borders of the white bands. In the Paris Museum is a young specimen in which there are 
dark spots along these lines, while among these percoid fishes longitudinal dark bands or 
lines have a tendency to become spots, and finally disappear, as horizontal bands have to fade 
away. In Klunzinger ’s figure, F.R.M. t. i, f . 2, three brown bands radiate from the eye and 
become four curved ones on the body, the first going to the eighth dorsal spine, the second 
to the fifth ray, while between them are blotches, spots or markings of the same colour. 
The fifth dorsal spine is shown the longest, and as equalling a little more than 1-|- the length 
of the orbit. Among Sir W. Elliot’s drawings is one of this fish IT inches long, it has a 
strong spine at the angle of the preopercle and another on the subopercle. 
Serranus prcBopereularis is rejDresented by two specimens from the Persian Gulf, one 
12 inches, the other 24 inches in length. The number of spines, rays and scales, as well as 
the form are similar to the type, but instead of black lines there are black dots along the 
sides rather irregularly disposed, and least numerous in the larger specimen. If, how- 
ever, the smaller one be examined, the radiating lines from the eye, although indistinct, 
are still perceptible, giving a certain clue to what the markings had been in the young, or 
those of the young of the S. morrhua. 
Page 22. Serranus angularis. Add synonym. 
Perea areolata Forsk. ]3. 42, is identified as this species by Klunzinger. 
Page 23. For Serranus grammicus read S. latifasciatus. Add to synonymy. 
Serranus latifaseiaUis, Schlegel, Fauna Japon. Pisces, p. 6 ; Day, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1888', 
page 259. 
Having been shown the types of Schlegel’s fish at Leyden, I found the two specifically 
identical. 
The earlier stages of growth in all fishes are interesting, more especially as they may 
be one means of deciding the original forms from which certain genera have probably 
been developed. It is, therefore, very desirable that all such should be recorded as 
discovered, even if merely as an incentive to further research. In 1867, I obtained 
