to s a y , h o w e v e r, to w h a t e x te n t th e c o lo u rs m a y h a v e b e e n a lte r e d b y th e s p ir it:
s o m e o f tlie s c a le s a ls o m a y h a v e b e e n r u b b e d off.
C h r o m i s f a c e t u s . Jen.
C. supra virescenti-niger, lateribus pallidioribus : dorso modice arcuato ¡fro n te elevato,
rostro summo ante oculos paulidum excavato : limbo preopercxdi poris quatuor con-
spicuis impresso: squamis latis, marginibus liberis levissime ciliatis: spinis dorsalibus
quindecim, analibus sex : pinnis ventralibus longe acuminatis, ad analem
pei'tingentihus : pinn â caudali subcequali.
D. 15/iO ; A . 6 /8 ; C. 16, &c. ; P. 1 4 ; V . 1/5.
L o n g . u n c . 5 . lin . 9.
F o r m .— Oblong-oval, very much compressed ; the back moderately elevated, and more curved than
the abdomen. Greatest depth a little behind the insertion of the pectorals, and contained
twice and three-quarters in the entire length: thickness about two-fifths of the depth. Forehead
high : profile falling very obliquely, and slightly hollowed out in front of the eyes ; the
upper and under profile meeting at the m outh at nearly a right angle. Head contained not
quite four times in the entire length; its own length and height nearly equal. M outh small,
protractile: jaws about equal, the lower one, if anything, a little the longest: lips not very
fleshy. Maxillary rather slender, retiring almost entirely, when the mouth is closed, beneath
the sub-orbital, the anterior margin of which is slightly hollowed out, and somewhat sinuous.
T eeth in card in both jaws, forming a narrow band; the outermost row longer and stronger
than the others, especially the four or six middle ones in front, which are somewhat conical and
slightly hooked. Pharyngean teeth present, but none on the vomeror palatines. Eyes rather
small, their diameter about one-fifth the length o f the head ; high in the cheeks, and a little
nearer to the snout than to the posterior margin of the opercle : the space between broad,
equalling nearly two diameters and-a-half. Nostrils consisting of a single round orifice half-way
between the eye and the end of the snout. Preopercle with the basal margin short, and
forming a slightly obtuse angle with the ascending one, the margin of which is entire. Opercle
of a triangular form, broad at top, but narrowing ofF towards the bottom. Subopercle and
interoperele much developed ; their outer margins, taken together, rounded off nearly in a
semicircle. Branchial membrane quite free all round, unattached to the isthmus, and but
slightly emarginate. Snout, suborbital, jaws, and limb of the preopercle, naked ; but the
cheeks and rest of the opercular pieces scaly: the scales on the subopercle large. Four large
pores on the limb of the preopercle, preceded by three others beneath the lower jaw : similar
pores beneath the eye, and extending partially round it ; one on the crown of the head, and a
few smaller ones scattered about the snout; a large one just above the opercle, and another
higher up on each side o f the nape.
Scales on the body large ; about twenty-five or twenty-six in a longitudinal row, and
eleven or twelve in the depth ; broader than long, with the free edges very minutely ciliated,
the concealed portions with a fan of thirteen striæ, and the basal margins with twelve distinct
a