I;
fishes were observed. Among these were a species o f Lates, Cuv.?; two species of Serra-
nus, Cuv.; theMee-buen, allied to Serr. Merra, Cuv. and Val., “ spotted with dark brown,
rounded, or slightly angular patches, and having the interstices white ;” and the Akasha,
evidently nearly related to the Serr. marginalis and oceanicus, Cuv. and Val.; its colour
is described as “ reddish-brown, the upper part being marked with lighter bands ; the
tip of the dorsal spines, is white, and the membrane margined with black ; the meinbrane
of the ventral fins is attached to the abdomen ; the orbit is margined with a black circle,
and tbe upper eyelid can cover one-half of the eye”—C.; “ the operculum ánA preeoper-
culum are greenish brown”—L. Mr. Collie remarks, that “ .the air-bladder is obtuse,
bilobed, not reaching so far back as the vent; the coeca are numerous; thé intestine
convoluted ; aud the stomach firm.”—C. A Holocentrum, Cuv., apparently the' Hoi.
orientate, Cuv. and Val., was also observed ; it was “ coloured with numerous crimson
bands passing longitudinally, with smaller whitish bauds between them, each passing
gradually into the other.”— C. A species of Glyphisodon, Lacép., which it is'impossible
to distinguish among the closely approximating races found in the Indian seas, by the
brief description preserved of it, was of “ a light green, with three broad transverse
bands of a very dark greenish brown on the body, and one on the tail : its air-bladder
was of moderate size.”—C. There was also obtained a Lethrinus, Cuv., “ of a silvery
colour, with darker greenish yellow longitudinal bands along the junction of the rows of
scales towards the back.” Both the species of Scombridoe seen appear to be new;
one of them, termed Sara, is a well-marked Cybium, Cuv., distinguished by its elongated
form, and the iowness and length of its first dorsal fin ; the second, Kattoo, may
perhaps be the type of a new genus : it has “ teeth small, round, and pointed. I t is a
compressed fish, 20 inches in length, and six in height from belly to back ; the spread
of its forked tail is five inches. The skin resembles that of the Sara as regards its
scaliness, but is of a lighter colour. There are fourteen spines in the first dorsal fin ;
eight distinct pinnules behind the second dorsal, and seven behind the anal fin. There
are small teeth on the palate and on the vomer?, as in the Sara.”—C.
A fish which particularly attracted the notice of the voyagers on account of its
exceeding beauty, and to which they, for want of better information, applied the name
of Chromis, appears to have been Hie Macropodus viridi-auratus, Lacép. I t agrees
well with so many of the characters of that fish as are' given by M. Lacépèdê, although
the slight sketch of it preserved by Mr. Collie bears little resemblance to that published
in the Histoire Naturelle des Poissons : the latter, however, seems to have been taken
from a Chinese drawing, and may very possibly be erroneous as to the length and height
of its dorsal and anal fins, and other particulars. I t was “ compressed, and scaly over
the whole of the head and body. All the fins, except the pectoral, terminated in a
filament; the ventral fins were connected at their inner margin with the abdomen, and
consisted of five rays, the second of which was filiform and jointed ; the caudal fin was
forked, each fork terminated by a long filament, the membrane yellowish-brown, and the
rays crossed with dark brown and white. The intermaxillaries were extensile and
tubular, and each was furnished with a row of fine teeth. The operculum was jointed ;
[If: I
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its upper and posterior portions were united over the gills to the side for a more th am sn a l
extent: the posterior jointed part is marked with a bluish spot and its margin is ipped
with reddish yellow. The scales are greenish and gold; and tbe body is marked with
bluish transverse bands. Its length from tho snout to the root of the caudal fin was two
inches; from the root of the caudal fm to the tip of its filament, one mob and three
ouarters • the depth of the fish three quarters of an inch. I t possessed an air-bladder,
L d had two(?) coe c a r -C . Mr. Lay describes the colours differently, perhaps from a
dead specimen ; “ blackish brown, with transverse bands of dilute black: gill-lid with
a black spot, margin red : tail brown, joints of the rays black.”- L .
A specimen of a species of Salarias, Cuv.?, “ was found in a dead shell witho,ut water,
where from the state of the tide, it must have been dry for three or fouf hours. ^ I t was,
however, quite lively, and jumped about. Even after it was b ro u g h t, on:,board, it
frequently leaped out of the basin in which it was k ep t in water on tom g touched or
d is L h e d ''-C .; an activity which strongly recalls that of a probably d lied species, the
Sal. saliens. Cuv., described by Lacépède after Commerson^ Of a fish
new species of a genuS not far removed from the preceding, Eleotris, Cuv., Mr. Collie
has preserved a sketch, and notes, which will hereafter be referred to.
Of the Labroid family several fishes were observed. One of these was a true L ^ r u s ,
Cuv.- six were referable to the genus M i s , Cuv.; and one to Gomphosus,L.chf Drawings
of two ot the Julides were preserved ; both of these appear to be new. and we have
acLrdingly described them as the M i s lutescens. and the M i s p a d la . O f the other
M id m .o a o ts described as having the “ g e n e r a l ground-colour green; a black s ripe
passes along the back, with cross bands of black down to the lateral line, which is a light
crimson stripe ; broad stripes of red, and narrower of green, converge irregularly to the
orbit ; spines of the dorsal fin eigbt”- C . : this may perhaps be identical with the Sparus
Hardwicks of Mr. J . W . Bennett’s Fishes of Ceylon: the second has the ‘f body above
dark-olive, with a few irregular bands of apple-green; the dark olive is succeeded, m
passing downwards towards the beUy, by yellowish green; beneath, cinereous; ventral
fins, greenish gold; dorsal fin, dark and yellowish green, with eight spines; the m s is
greenish, margined with reddish gold”- C . ; the third species is marked with “ longitudinal
bands of green and purple; the dorsal and anal fins are banded first with a purple,
tbhn an orange, and then two crimson bands, a bluish line separating each b and, the
caudal fin is slightly rounded, with a reddish band parallel to and near th e hinder margin,
with others proceeding from i t and going irregularly forwards to the, base”—C.: the
fourth Julis? has the g eneral characters and anatomy of the Labrides, and is without scales
on the head; but it is “ a long rounded fish, and has fine teeth paved behind the mcisors ;
the dorsal fm is uniform, beginning a little posterior to the pectorals, which a re on the
same vertical plane with the ventrals ; the anal fin is uniform ; the caudal rounded ; the
body is dark olive green above, with lighter greenish spots, and greenish-rufous beneath,
with whey-white squares ;. the lower part of the head is zigzagged white and rufous ;
and the irides are reddish golden: tbe teeth of the lower jaw are unequal”—C. The
Gomphosus is an elegant and apparently a new species; “ the lower p a rt of the snout,