THE FISHES OF MALABAR. 
Sub-Class.— TELEOSTEI. 
Order.— ACANTHOPTERYGII. 
Fam. BERYCIDiE. 
Genus HOLOCENTEUM, Artedi. 
Cornigee, Agassiz. 
Branchiostegals, eight. Form of body oblong, compressed ; eyes large, lateral; jaws equal, or lowest 
slightly the longest; muzzle moderate, nearly horizontal. Two dorsals scarcely united; ventrals with 
one spine, and seven rays ; caudal forked; anal with four spines, the third long and strong. Opercles 
and suborbitals serrated, opercle with two spines. Villiform teeth in both jaws, vomer, and palatine 
bones. Scales moderate, ctenoid. Swimming bladder simple, oval. Pyloric appendages many. 
* Holocenteum eubrum. 
Sciaena rubra, Forskal , Descript. anim. p. 48. 
Holocentrum oeientale, Cuvier & Valenciennes , Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, iii. 
p. 197, vii. p. 497. 
Holocenteum marginatum, Cuv. & Val. iii. p. 216. 
Holocenteum eubrum, Gunther , Catalogue of tlie Fishes in the British Museum, 
i. p. 35. 
B. viii. D. il-Vg. P.15. Y.\. A. f. C. 17. L.1.35. L. tr. f. Vert, Csec. pylor. 20. 
Length of head f-, of caudal 4§ in total length. Height of body f, of third anal spine 
in total length. Interorbital space 1 of length of head. 
Preopercle serrated; interopercle coarsely denticulated; opercle with two strong spines, the 
upper the largest. Groove for intermaxillary process shorter than the diameter of the eye. Supra¬ 
scapular and coracoid denticulated. 
Teeth—Villiform in jaws, vomer, and palatines. 
Fins—Third, fourth, and fifth dorsal spines the longest; the soft rays being a little higher 
than the spines. The third anal spine longest. Ventral slightly longer than pectoral, and reaches 
to the anus. Caudal divided into two equal lobes. Scales slightly striated. 
Colours—Red, with eight alternate longitudinal bands of red, and gold or silver. Dorsal, 
purplish with a red base. Caudal, ventral, and pectoral, reddish. Anal, with a purplish mark 
between the second, third, and fourth rays. 
Good eating, said to be obtained in Malabar most abundantly during the N. E. monsoon. 
Habitat—Red Sea, seas of India, Malaysia, and China. 
B 
