B oth this last fia and the anal terminating in a considerable point behind. Ventrals large,
reaching very nearly to the anal.
D. 8—9 ; A. 7; C. 15, & c.; P . 16; V. 1/5.
Length 7 inches 9 lines.
C o l o u r .—(In spirits.) D ark brownish yellow, with faint indications of three dusky patches or
abbreviated transverse fasci®, one beneath each dorsal, and the third on each side of the upper
part of the tail. Second dorsal and anal crossed by several whitish longitudinal lin es; the
posterior point of each fin nearly black.
This species was obtained by Mr. Darwin at Tahiti. It is probably the U.
trifasciatus of Cuvier and Valenciennes, who received their specimens from the
Carolinas and Sandwich Islands. B ut it does not so well accord with the MuUe
multihande of Quoy and Gaimard, which is supposed by the authors of the “ H istoire
des Poissons,” to be the same as their species. If the figure in the Zoology
of “ Freycinet’s Voyage” be correct, the 31ulle multihande has the nostrils much
smaller, and the spines of the first dorsal much stronger; tlie ventrals also are
relatively much shorter, so as to reach very little more than half way to the anal.
Future observation must determine whether the two fish are distinct or not.
the first dorsal. V entrals reaching a little beyond the pectorals, b u t falling short of the anal by
a space equalling h alf their own length.
D. 8—9; A. 7; C. 15, & c.; P . 16; V. 1/5.
Length 8 inches.
C o l o u r .— “ Vermilion, with streaks of iridescent blue.”— D. Insp irits, the colour appears of a
uniform dull reddish yellow, without any indication of spots or other markings on the fins or
body.
Habitat, Porto Praya, Cape Verde Islands.
I suppose this to be the TI. Prayensis of Cuvier and Valenciennes, the description
of which, so far as given in the “ Histoire des Poissons,” is tolerably applicable.
Those authors, however, mention a spot in the middle of each scale of a
deeper red than the ground colour, which is not alluded to by Mr. Darwin in his
notes, and of which I see no trace on the fish in its present state. On the other
hand they are silent with regard to the blue streaks. In some of its characters,
especially as regards the teeth, this species seems to approach the U. maculatus;
hut the colours are different in this last also, which is moreover found on the opposite
side of the Atlantic.
3 . U p e n e u s P r a y e n s is . C uv.et Val.?
Upeneus Prayensis, Cuv. et Val. Hist, des Poiss. tom. iii. p. 357.
Form . Very much resembling that of the U. trifasciatus, hut with the following differences. The
eyes rather larger, distant from the end of the snout rather more than two diameters and a half.
Suborbitals traversed towards their lower margins by a number of lines, each terminating in a
pore, and with their whole disks studded besides with pores without lin es: the lower margin
itself presents four distinct deeply-cut notches, the first of which receives the end of the maxillary
when the mouth is closed. A single row of small conical teeth in each ja w ; in addition
to which, in the upper, there are some stronger ones in front, exterior to the others, amounting
to eight in number, the central pair o f which bends inwards or towards each other, and the
three on each side, which are the strongest o f all, backwards and outwards. No teeth on the
vomer or palatines. The posterior extremity of the maxillary is much narrower than in the
last species. Spine of the opercle sharp and well developed, about two lines and a quarter in
length. Barbules reaching very nearly to the posterior margin of the opercle. Ramifications
of the mucous tubes on the lateral line very numerous. H eight of the first dorsal equalling
rather more than h alf the depth. Space between the two dorsals equalling half the length of
the second dorsal. This last fin pointed behind, as well as the anal, but not so much so as in
the U. trifasciatus. Pectorals when laid back reaching to a vertical line from the extremity of
F a m i l y .— T R IG L ID ^ .
T r ig l a k u m u . Less, et Garn.
Tiigla kuinu, Less, et Garn. Zoologie de la Coquille, (Poissons) PI. 19.
----------------- Cuv. et Val. Hist, des Poiss. tom. iv. p. 36.
F o rm .— In general appearance very much resembling the T. H irundo, but more elongated. D epth
contained about five times and a half in the entire length. Head rather more than four times
and a quarter in the same. The obliquity of the profile about the same as that of the T. H irundo,
but the concavity of the interocular space less. The granulations on the head not so coarse, or
so strongly m arked, the lines in which they are arranged being closer and more num erous:
those on the suhorbitals radiate from a point nearer the extremity o f tlie sn o u t: no crest or
ridge at the bottom of the suborbital, and only a very indistinct one a t the bottom of the preopercle
: as Cuvier has well noted, the grains on the border of the preopercle are divided into
little isles, or collected in clusters, by irregular lines which undulate am ongst th em ; and in
this specimen, the same character presents itself on the posterior and upper portion of the
suborbitiil: some of the first lines on the opercle are plain, or without granulations. Snout
emarginated, with three or four denticulations on each side rather sharper and more developed