teeth as described before; the lips thin, the tongue retracted, the palate smooth. T h e eyes lower, round, large.
Nostrils double. T h e branchial membrane exposed; the aperture large.
T he pectoral fin low, and in proportion lo n g ; the caudal a little more divided, than in the last, and the
lobes sharper.
T h e colour a grayish pearl, with sky-blue bands on the sides, and a pale yellow, large, spot, between each
band. T h e belly a dull white. T h e dorsal and anal fins have a bluish cast; the others a yellowish white.
T h e length, including the tail, six inches.
No. LXXXVIL
C h a t o d o n cauda integra, medio parum productiore; spinis dorsalibus quatuor; pin, I dor si
analisque sicut alee extensis ; pinnis ventralibus longissimis, Jalcatis.
T h e C h a t o d o n witli an u n d iv id e d tail, p ro je c tin g somewhat in th e m iddle ; fo u r dorsal
sp in e s ; tlie dorsal an d anal fins ex ten d ed lik e w in g s ; an d th e v e n tra l ex trem ely long
an d falcate.
Chatodon Teira, Forskal. Descr. Anim. J{o. 82.
Called b y the Na tiv e s K a h i S a n d a w a .
4 1 3
B . iv . Z). 3 5 . p . 1 7 . V. 6. A . 24. C. 18.
T he body. This species in its form differs from the others, it is transverse-oval, and the dorsal and anal fins
liave the appearance of wings extended. It is much compressed, covered with very minute scales, and is
rough to the touch.
T h e head low, small, compressed, and, the crown and cheeks excepted, without scales. T h e rostrum short,
blunt. T h e moutli small; lips th in ; jaws nearly o f equal length; teeth setaceous; the tongue and palate
smooth. T h e eyes high, nearer the opercula than the rostrum, small, round, iris yellow. T h e nostrils stand
obliquely, half way between the orbit and rostrum, the posterior oval, the other smaller, round. T h e
posterior opercula acuminate, and lower part squamous. T h e branchial membrane partly exposed.
T h e trunk. T h e back thin, rapidly assurgent to the dorsal spines, then arched; the arch on the opposite
side (the belly being hardly convex) less complete. T h e lateral line forms a low arch, and after waving a
little terminates at the middle o f the caudal fin. T h e anus is nearer to the gills than to the tail.
Thej?Ki. T h e dorsal and anal remaining expanded after death, forms something o f a crescent, with the
expanded tail projecting from the middle, but the upper limb is the longest; the dorsal ray longest measuring
about five inches, and the anal four; the pectoral low, short, acuminate; the ventral falcate, ending in a
setaceous tail, nearly four inches in length; the caudal fin intire, ye t not truncate, the exterior rays, and two
or three in the middle, being a little longer than the rest.
T he colour, o f the head, breast, and trunk, a dark g r a y ; but a band o f a still darker colour, crosses the face,
and eyes, from tlie back to the gills, and another twice as broad crosses the body and pectoral f in : the Iiinder
part of the fish is nearly the same colour as the band, with a tint o f dark purple. T h e fins almost black.
Inches. Lines.
T h e length, from the rostrum to the caudal fin, - - - - 4 5
of the caudal fin - - - - - - - - - 1 2
Greatest breadth - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 ^
T he colour in another subject, almost twice as big as the one now described, was more uniformly of a
purplish b la ck ; and the bands were hardly discernible.
R EM A R K S .
This is a rich and exceilmt fish; having the pecuiiar flavour o f such as feed among the rocks.
It has been accurateiy described by Forskai who found it in the Red sea. T h e figure in Renard referred to
by Gmelin, exhibits an extravagant variation in colour.
No. LXXXVIII.
C h a s to d o n cauda alba, trú n ca la ; sp inis dorsalibus tredecem, ra d iis aliquot f i n n x dor si m u tis
in setam longiorem; corpore vittis obliquis, curvis, corruliis ; aculeo curvo, vaginato, ad
T h e C h a s t o d o n w ith a w h ite , tru n c a te ta il; th irte en spines in the dorsal h n , an d some o f
■ th e ray s u n ited in to a long filiform t a i l ; the bod y adorned w ith o b liq u e , curve
cairulean lin e s ; a curve, sheathed sp in e on the operculum.
Called b y the Natives S a h n i T c h a p a .
■3 A. i_
B . iii. D . 3 i . P . 19. V. 6. A . 24. C. 17.
T he body. The form o f this fish is singularly clumsy. It is much compressed, very broad towards the ta il;
that is, between the soft portion of the dorsal and anal fins, diminishes slowly towards the obtuse head, and
terminates in a short, blunt rostrum. T h e scales small, imbricate, tenacious, margins ciliate, rough.
The bead not large, declivous, much compressed, without scales, roughish. The mouth sma ll; lips very
thick; jaws extractile, the upper a little longer than the lower; teeth setaceous; tongue ovate, smooth, free.
Palate tuberculate. The eyes high, forward, large, round. Nostrils double, one before the other, declining
obliquely from the orbit to tile rostrum, the anterior oval, and by much the largest. T h e opercula without
scales; striate, rough ; the rounded edge of the anterior lamina, armed with a robust, curve, channeled spine,
one inch and three lines long, furnished with a sheath, and pointing backwards and upwards. T h e branchial
membrane visible; the aperture large, lateral and gukir.
The tnoik. The back very gradually arched to the last o f the dorsal spines, when it rounds offi descending
almost perpendicularly to the tail. The breast and belly are less arched, but the posterior part rounded and
bulging out, ascends in like manner as the back descends. T h e lateral line beginning at a remarkable mark,
high on the shoulders, bends in a low arch to the middle of the tail. T h e anus centricai.
The^rts. T h e dorsal occupies the back intirely, from the shoulder to the tail. It consists o f thirteen
assurgent, strong, not long, spines, and twenty-two soft rays, the four first of which uniting, form a setaceous
tail, eight inches in length : the rest of the fin is hardly an inch in breadth, declining very little to the end; the
pectoral rather short, acuminate above; the ventral long, falcate, ending in a setaceous tail o f three inches; the
anal commencing a little behind the anus, and following the shape of the body, ascends arch-form opposite to
the dorsal; the caudal fin entire, and hke the dorsal and anal, remains expanded after death. T h e fins, as
usual, are squamous.
T he colour o f the head a reddish orange; of the body, a dull golden, with several curve, azure fillets, which
are continued on the dorsal fin : two o f them, from the front, cross the face and opercula; on each shoulder,
there is a remarkable square spot, orange in the middle, the sides azure; the dorsal and anal fins are darker