OCR Text |
Show 8 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 4. SER.R.ANUS LABR.IFOR.MIS. Jen. PLATE III. S. Jusco-jlavo, niiT'ro, alboque va1'iutus; dm·sali 'rub1·o-maq.;inata; spinis jo1·tibus, subceqttalibus, ad :pices lctciniis membmnaceis i1~v~sti~is; dm~tibus acu~eifonnibus, *. va~de 1·et1·oflexis, seriebus internis mrfioribus; canznzs, m maxzlld superwre duob·us, zn znferiore quatum·, mediocribus; preoperculo margine ctrqwto, vix denticulato ; opercztlo mucrone tmico plano, modico, armato; squamis infra lineam lateralem cilicttis, supra et in ventre lcevibus. B. 7; D. 11/17; A. 3/8; C. 15, &c.; P. 18; V. 1;5. LoNG. unc. 17. FoRM.-Oblong-oval, with very much the aspect of a Labrus. The greatest depth, which is beneath the commencement of the dorsal, is rather less than one-fourth of the entire length. The head is large, and nearly one-third of the same. The profile, from the dorsal to the end of the snout, curves gradually downwards in one continuous bend. The lower jaw p1·ojects a little beyond the upper. The teeth form a broadish band of fine card in both jaws, with the inner rows longer and more curved than the outer; in the upper jaw, a little behind the anterior extremity, are three or four longer than the others, and curving so much backwards as almost to be laid flat; at the posterior part of this jaw on each sirle they pass into velutine. The canines are strong, but not very long; in number two above and four below, not exactly in fl'Ont, but a little on each side of the middle. The teeth on the vomer and palatines are velutine. The eyes are moderately large, high in the cheeks, equidistant from the upper angle of the preopercle and the end of the snout, with a diameter rather less than one.sixth the length of the head : the distance between them about equals their diameter. The margin of the suborbital is entire, but a little sinuous. The maxillary is large, and cut nearly square at its posterior extremity : it is nearly all exposed, and reaches to beneath the posterior part of the orbit. The nostrils are a little in advance of the eyes, and consist of two round openings, one before the other, the posterior one being the largest. The whole head, including the lower jaw, is covered with !mall scales, which become more minute towards the extremity of the snout, but are very visible even there: there are none, however, apparent on the maxillary. The preopercle has the basal angle rounded, and the ascending margin a little convex outwards, and denticulated, but the denticles are minute and not very obvious. The opercle and subopercle together (the line of separation between which is scarcely apparent) form a triangle. The former terminates posteriorly in one flat spine, moderately developed, not reaching to the extremity of the membranous angle by twice its own length. The lateral line, which is rather indistinct, is nearly parallel to the back at a little below one-fourth of the depth. The scales on the body below • I have employed this term to designate the slender curved teeth, arranged in several rows, which Cuvier calls en cm·des, or, when loss numerous and mther more developed, en CI'Ocltets. They much resemble the p1·irklca found on some plants. |