74 
differs from it in having smaller scales, in form and in colours; nor 
have I been able to refer it to any described species. Its body is 
elongated; its height, which is not equal to the length of the head, 
being contained five times and a half in the total length of the fish, 
caudal included. The compression of the head is considerable, its 
thickness not exceeding half its height, and the occiput and nape are 
acute. The length of the preorbitar is considerably greater than the 
diameter of the eye, and the cheek and interoperculum are both high. 
There are no scales on the temples or any other part of the head. 
There are fifty scales on the lateral line, each marked by six or 
seven short, simple, diverging tubes. The lateral line is bent down¬ 
wards under the ninth, tenth and eleventh soft rays of the dorsal; it 
is otherwise straight, and runs near the back. The dorsal commences 
far forward, over the top of the gill-cover, and runs back with an even 
outline ; its tip, which is acute, though not prolonged, reaching, when 
laid back, to the base of the caudal. Its spines, as well as those of 
the anal and ventrals, are flexible and very slender. The pectorals 
are not large, and the ventrals have tapering, acute, but not filament¬ 
ous tips. They stand under the base of the lowest pectoral ray. 
The caudal is moderately rounded, and it is scaly between the rays 
for more than one-third of its length. 
When the open mouth is viewed in front, its teeth form a rhomb ; 
the front pair of teeth above and below are comparatively large and 
are curved. There is also a small curved tooth standing forwards 
from the angle of the mouth. 
Mr. Neill’s drawing represents this fish as having an aurora-red 
ground colour on the head, back, dorsal and anal fins, the fins being 
of the deepest tint. The head is ornamented by deep blue lines, 
which are distinctly visible on the dried specimen. These all form 
curves more or less bold, with the convexity forwards. The anterior 
one begins on the nose, runs forward to the lips, and inclines backwards 
again on the lower jaw ; the next descends from the nostrils over the 
disk of the maxillary and posterior part of the lower jaw. Two de¬ 
scend from the orbit over the interoperculum, and there are some 
finer intermediate ones which vanish on the cheek. There are also 
about six slender lines on the gill-cover, wdiich are thickened on the 
suprascapular region. The body is traversed by seven or eight rows 
of short blue lines, which on the tail are superseded in part by dots. 
The dorsal and anal have about three row’s of these short lines, and 
the caudal, which is reddish-orange, is streaked longitudinally with 
blue. The pectoral and ventrals are flesh-coloured. 
Length of specimen 12^- inches. 
Olisthops, Richardson. 
(Olisthops , ex oXicrdrjpos , lubricus , et uj\p, vultus.) 
Genus generis Odacis affine. Caput totum cute lubrica, esqua- 
mosa tectum (squamulse quatuor tantum inconspicuis regioni supra- 
scapulari utrinque insidentes). Labia simplicia cum cute faciei con- 
