| OCR Text |
Show 1887.] DR. A. GUNTHER ON FISHES FROM MAURITIUS. 551 The spines of the dorsal fin are rather strong and pungent; the hindmost a little longer than the eye. The rays are longer than the spines, and especially the penultimate is so far produced as to reach the base of the caudal. The vent is nearly opposite to the first soft ray of the dorsal, the anal commencing immediately behind it. The anal fin resembles much the soft dorsal, but its posterior rays are less produced. Caudal cleft, not quite so long as the head. Of the pectoral rays the sixth and seventh (counted from the upper margin of the fin) are the longest, as long as the head without snout. Ventral inserted below the root of the pectoral, scarcely more than half the length of the head. The body is of a uniform light olive colour, rather darker on the back. A dark violet band runs from one eye to the other across the front of the snout. Dorsal fin dark violet, yellowish along the base and on the last rays ; the upper third of the pectoral fin bluish, the remainder, a3 also all the other fins, yellowish. The specimen is nearly 8 inches long. PLATYCEPHALUS SUBFASCIATUS. (Plate XLIX.) D. 1/8/12. A. 11. L. lat. 74. The angle of the praeoperculum is armed with three spines, the upper of which is more than twice as long as the middle one and not quite half as long as the eye; it has a minute spine at its base. The middle one is curved downwards, equidistant from the upper and lower. The lowermost is extremely short. The length of the head is one third of the total with the caudal, and contained twice and two thirds in it, without the caudal; its width between the praeopercular spines is nearly one half of its length. The interorbital space is a deep and narrow groove, the width of which is scarcely one third of the vertical diameter of the eye ; the horizontal diameter of the eye is rather shorter than the snout. The ridges on the head, namely the supraciliary, occipital, and infraorbital, are but slightly prominent, with very fine serrature. The lateral line is very indistinct and smooth. There are six or seven scales in a transverse series between the first dorsal fin and the lateral line. Anterior nostril with a very short tentacle. Light greyish brown, with somewhat irregular, broad, brownish-black cross bands, which are more or less interrupted on the middle of the side ; three correspond to the first dorsal fin and three to the second ; the hindmost occupies the back of the end of the tail and encloses a whitish spot. Anterior dorsal dark-coloured, with irregular black spots; the rays of the second annulated with black. Anal whitish, with an ill-defined blackish intermarginal band; base of the caudal whitish, the lower part of its posterior half blackish, the upper spotted with black. Pectoral and ventral fins variegated with black and whitish, the tips of most of the rays white. Head with black cross bands, one between the eyes and the other across the occiput; a black band below the eye is most conspicuous. One specimen from Mauritius, 9| inches long. |
