| OCR Text |
Show 1889.] NEW TO THE AUSTRALIAN FAUNA. 153 the eye to the base of the ventral fin; remainder of the body and the fins, with the exception of the spinous dorsal, which is crimson, golden ; irides purple, with an inner ring of gold. O n carefully comparing this description with that of Dr. Bleeker, we find that the following important differences occur :-(1) the arrangement of the teeth in the jaws, which can by no exercise of ingenuity be stated to be " dentibus pluriseriatis ; " (2) the absence of a lateral canine in the lower jaw ; (3) the absence of denticulations on the sub- and interopercles; (4) the greater number of scales on both lateral and transverse lines, and especially that between the former and the origin of the dorsal fin, which Bleeker computes at two or three, while in our example six are plainly visible; (5) the deep notching of the interspinous membrane ; (6) the shortness of the ventral fins and the non-prolongation of the outer ray of each lobe of the caudal fin as shown in Dr. Bleeker's figure, characters which, however, may possibly be sexual; and (7) the greater length of the third anal spine than the second. Regarding the length of the ventral fins, if we turn to the figure in the ' Atlas Ichthyologique' (tome vii. Perc. tab. xi. fig. 1) we find by measurement that the elongate second ray reaches exactly to the origin of the anal fin, and not to the posterior anal rays-"radio secundo producto radios anales posteriores attingente " - a s stated in the letterpress ; on the other hand, however, we see a vast difference in the height of the first dorsal spine, which is delineated as but little more than half the height of the second, and barely two fifths of that of the third, whereas in our example the variation in length is hardly recognizable. Notwithstanding, however, the apparent importance of these differences, we cannot consider it desirable to describe as new a fish which otherwise agrees so accurately with the original diagnosis, especially when the coloration, so far as we know, unique in this genus, is exactly similar in the two known specimens. Our example measures three and four fifths inches, and is therefore about three fifths of an inch smaller than Dr. Bleeker's type. It was obtained last April on Lord Howe Island by M r . E. H. Saunders, who found it dead, but quite fresh and perfect, on the beach, and the colours given are those jotted down on the spot by that gentleman. ANTHIAS PLEUROT^ENIA, Blk. B. vii. D. 10/17-18. A. 3/7. V. 1/5. P. 18. C. 15. L. 1. 48-49. L. tr. 6/18. The length of the head is from four and two thirds to four and seven eighths the height of the body, three and a half times in the total length. The diameter of the eye is contained three and three fourths times in the length of the head; the snout is very obtuse and measures five sevenths of the diameter of the eye, while the interorbital space, which is strongly convex, slightly exceeds the same. The dorsal profile is much more curved than in the preceding species, but the ventral curve is very much the same ; the upper surface of the head is obliquely straight. The lower jaw projects |
