the lips, nak ed ; but the cheeks and opercular pieces covered with large scales, which form two
rows on the cheeks. Opercle term inating behind in a rounded angle. Scales on the body
very large ; eight in the depth, and twenty-one or twenty-two in the len g th : the entire
exposed portion of each scale scabrous with granulations, which are partially disposed in lines
towards the free edges. N o scales on the vertical fins. T he lateral line occupies the second
row of scales from the top, till it reaches a little beyond the end o f the dorsal, where it becomes
interrupted, recommencing in the fourth row, which at this point is the th ird : tubal pores in
some places ramified, but the ramifications not very distinct.
T he dorsal commences above the posterior lobe o f the opercle, and is of nearly uniform
height throughout. T he length of the rays in the soft portion, which is slightly higher than
the spinous, is not quite one-third o f the depth. T h e whole length of this fin is half the
entire length. T he anal answers to the last half of the dorsal, and terminates in the same lin e .
the three spines are slender, and the first very sh o rt C audal with the central portion slightly
convex, but the three outer rays above and below prolonged into a point one-third the length
of the whole fin ; the lower point a little longer than the upper. Pectorals about one-fifth of
the entire length, pointed, with the upper rays arcuate. V entrals immediately beneath them,
one-third shorter.
C o lo u r .— “ Fine verditer blue, with some yellow stripes about the bead and fins.”— D .—T he dried
skin is nearly of a uniform brown, but the snout and cheeks are much varied with green : the
jaw s also are green. A bright green patch in front of the eye, immediately beneath which is
a pale freenum, probably yellow in the recent state. Dorsal and anal g re e n : the former shews
some trace of a lighter narrow band running longitudinally below the upper edge o f the fin ;
the latter exhibits a very distinct fascia run nin g along the middle. Caudal pale green, with
the upper and lower edges of a much deeper tint. Ventrals in like m anner edged with green^
Pectorals wholly dusky.
Habitat, Keeling Island, Indian Ocean.
In so extensive a genus as the present, and one in which so much general
similarity prevails amongst the species, the task of determining whether any
particular one has been described before is extremely difficult. I can only say that
the species which I have here ventured to characterize as new has been carefully
compared with the descriptions of all those noticed in the “ Histoire des Poissons,”
and though there are several to which it is nearly allied, there is none to which it
can be referred with certainty. It seems to approach nearest the S. variegatus,
hut that species is said to have the caudal square, hy which I presume is meant
that the upper and under rays are not prolonged into a point, as is the case in so
many species of this genus, and in the one here described.
This species was taken hy Mr. Darwin at the Keeling Islands.
2 . S c a r u s g l o b i c e p s . Cuv. et Val.
S. glohiceps, Cuv. et Val. Hist, des Poiss. tom. xiv. p. 179.
F orm.— Oblong-oval, very much compressed throughout: the dorsal and ventral lines nearly of
equal curvature. G reatest depth contained about three times and one-third in the entire
length : thickness twice and three-fifths in the depth. H ead one-fourth of the entire length,
rather elevated at the nape, the forehead convex, whence the profile descends nearly in the arc
of a circle, giving the snout a blunt and rounded appearance. T he height of the head, taken
in a vertical line through the eyes, equals nearly but not quite its own length. M outh small,
the gape n ot.reaching half-way to the eye. Jaw s very slightly crenated on their cutting
edges, the true teeth appearing on the outer surface like m inute scales. A t the posterior angle
of each jaw , and on each side, are two sharp canines projecting horizontally from the comers
of the mouth, eight in all. Eyes rather small, their diameter contained six-and-a-half times in
the length of the head, situate a little above the middle of the cheek, and a trific nearer the
extrem ity of the snout than the posterior margin of the opercle. T he nostrils consist of two
m inute orifices a little in advance of the eye, and a little distant from each other, the posterior
one largest and kidney-shaped, the anterior round and nearly closed by its membranous
border. A cluster of minute pores above and behind the eyes, and a few others scattered about
the snout.
Scales on the body very large, increasing in size at the base of the caudal, where there are
three very large ones covering the rays of that fin for half their length or more : twenty-three
in a longitudinal line, and nine in the depth. E ach scale of a roundish form anteriorly, the
basal portion with a projecting lobe in the middle of the hinder margin, and with thirty-one
striæ in the fan; the exposed portion finely striated and granulated, with a broad membranaceous
border: those on the caudal nearly three times as long as broad, but the ordinary
ones with the length and breadth nearly equal. L ateral line interrupted; the upper portion
running nearly straight at about one-fourth of the depth, till opposite the end of the dorsal,
where it inclines downwards : tubal pores very distinctly ramified.
Dorsal very low, its height, in the middle of its length, being scarcely more than one-
eighth of the d ep th : the soft rays slightly higher than the spinous, and ineroasing in length
backwards. A nal answering to the last half of the dorsal, and term inating in the same line :
three spines at its commencement not stouter than the soft rays, the first very small. The
last soft ray in both dorsal and anal double. C audal with the points about one-fourth of the
rest of its length ; when spread, the interval is rectilineal, but when the rays are closed the
whole appears crescent-shaped. Pectorals a little shorter than the head, o f a somewhat triangular
form, the rays gradually decreasing in length from the uppermost to the lowermost.
Ventrals pointed, about tw o-thirds the length of the pectorals, and immediately beneath them.
A large oblong lanceolate scale between the ventrals, nearly half their length : also an oblong
scale in the axilla of each, equalling the last of the soft rays.
D. 9/10 ; A. 3/9 ; C . 13, &c. ; P . 13 ; V. 1/5.
Length 11 inches.
C oi.oua.— N ot noticed in the recent state. In spirits, it appears bluish grey on the back and sides
with small round whitish spots, the m argin of each scale being defined by a purplish line ; paler
on the belly: a white transverse line in front of the eyes passing from one to the o th er;
anterior part o f the snout, mouth, cheeks, and lower p art of the head, yellowish white. Dorsal
and anal pale, the former with three narrow longitudinal purplish lines, the latter w ith one. A
portion of the under surface o f the pectorals, extending fi'om the third to the fifth ray, and